We Aren't All That Different
by MariellaSara
Summary: After years of being tormented by her fellow Ravenclaws Luna finally comes up with a plan to change her living conditions at school. However, she doesn't dream that this plan will end up affecting everyone at Hogwarts...
1. Luna 1

"Good bye, Daddy," Luna Lovegood said quietly, hugging her father tightly and kissing him softly on the cheek.

He stroked her hair lovingly one last time before he strode away at an almost hurried pace. His old faded cloak swirled about his legs, his wand clearly visible behind his right ear through the thinning mop of sandy hair. He was very busy- the new issue of _The Quibbler_ was to be published in a few days and there were still two articles missing.

Luna chewed on the inside of her cheek and thought about her father. Recently, her daddy had seemed nervous and tense because nothing worked the way he wanted it to. Since they had published Harry's interview, the demand had increased dramatically and that, of course, meant a lot of stress for him. But Luna was sure he'd manage it all in the end and publish yet another splendid issue.

It was only when she tasted the coppery tang of blood in her mouth that she realised that she had chewed on her cheek too long, lost in thought, and had to force herself with all strength of mind she could muster to stop it. She didn't_ want_ to do it, it was just that she never noticed it when she did.

A quiet sigh escaped her lips. There wasn't much time left. Soon the train would arrive and it would take her back to Hogwarts. Not that she didn't like Hogwarts; of course she did. No person who ever went there could possibly not like it, with its secret rooms and the mysterious forest. No, it wasn't the school she feared returning to- it was the students and especially the five girls in her dormitory. They were giving her a hard time, constantly, because they didn't like the way she thought about things or because they thought she was eccentric and weird because of what she believed in. Luna did not understand this behaviour; why did they care about her beliefs? She never mocked them because they didn't believe in Heliopaths, did she? Her heart sank as she realized just how long it would be until she would be at home again in their beloved small cottage, where everything was so friendly.

The new school year had not even started, and already she was having depressing thoughts. She felt for the pre-print issue of _The Quibbler_ in her pocket to distract herself. Her father had given it to her for the train ride. A smile spread over her face and her thoughts drifted to this way more pleasant topic. She already looked forward to eventually reading it. Giving her the pre-print issue was a big exception from one of her father's basic principles. Usually he didn't let her see the newest issue before it was printed and published, to keep up the suspense for her.

He would lock himself into his 'Headquarters', as Luna used to call his study, and come out only to eat and sleep, literally. He would never even breathe a word about the articles. If she begged and pleaded with him to tell her what would be in the new issue, he'd just smile and say, "Something wonderful, darling, you'll see," and leave her with as little information as she had before.

The only real exception he had ever made from this had been last year, when she had asked him to print Harry's interview. Then, he had been forced to tell her at least a little about the contents of the new edition. Maybe this time he had sensed that she would need it. In the last days before the new issue was published, he was always caught up in his own world and thought of nothing but the magazine. Luna was really happy he had still noticed she didn't feel well.

Slowly, she looked around to see if maybe she could see a familiar face, but they had been very early arriving and there were only two scared-looking boys - probably first years - with their families a little farther down the platform. Luna threw her most friendly smile in their direction, but they didn't even notice. She shrugged and sat down on her trunk, absent-mindedly taking out her old pocket watch and looking at it.

As usual, the glass was so scratched she could barely recognize the two small brooms that served as hands before the bright full moon on the face. With a sigh, she prodded it with her wand until it told her the time in a squeaky voice that reminded her of a House Elf every time she heard it. Luna moaned: it was another forty-five minutes until the train would arrive.

She decided that she might as well learn a bit more and dug her Charms book out of her trunk, then sat down again. She opened the book randomly and found herself looking at the chapter about Silencing Charms.

_This could come in handy,_ Luna thought to herself, imagining what she could do to Bianca and Pandora, the two girls in her dormitory whose giggles constantly rang throughout the room, making Luna feel like her head could explode at any given moment. Just something else she dreaded when returning to school after the merciful silence at home. _Stop it_, she told herself firmly. It was no good having only negative thoughts.

Luna put her wand behind her left ear, ensuring that it was out of the way, and started to read.

Around her, the platform slowly filled up with people, dragging behind them trolleys loaded with trunks, brooms and owl cages. From time to time, Luna looked up and searched for familiar faces. Of course, she recognised a lot of people now, but none of them made her want to walk over to them and talk to them, so she simply continued reading.

When about half an hour had passed by, someone suddenly put a hand on her shoulder and a merry voice said, "Hi, Luna! Long time no see!"

Luckily, Luna was not a person to startle easily, or she would have fallen off her trunk. Instead, she turned around calmly and looked at Tessa Dugan, a girl from Hufflepuff who was 'kind of' her best friend; they went to Charms Club together. Luna smiled.

"Hello, Tessa," she said and felt suddenly that her left leg had gone to sleep. She pinched herself hard to bring back some feeling and stood up, shaking a bit.

"How was your holiday in Sweden?" Tessa asked, beaming at her cheerfully.

"Oh," Luna said and took a deep breath, "it was absolutely wonderful. The landscape is really amazing and Daddy and I actually found a herd of Crumple-Horned -"

"Tessa!" a blonde girl called from a few metres away. "You coming?"

Tessa looked at Luna apologetically. "I'm sorry," she said, regret in her voice. "I'll see you around!" she quickly added as she vanished together with the other girl.

Luna watched her as the two girls put their heads together and started chatting animatedly and felt disappointed and a little sad. This was her supposedly best friend, and she went away from her so easily? Not that good a friend, then, apparently. And there she was, thinking Hufflepuffs were loyal. She sighed.

Suddenly a glimpse of short-cut red hair appearing from the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 caught her eye. Her heart made a sudden somersault and she felt a strange sensation spreading in her stomach. Quickly, she stuffed her book back into her trunk and slowly walked over to the place where the red hair was still shining bright through the sea of brown, black and blond.

She saw Harry and Ron standing close together, talking quietly. Suddenly, they both burst out laughing; Ron threw his head back as he laughed, holding his stomach.

"Hello Ronald," Luna said and stepped next to Ron.

He looked down at her and the merry expression was replaced by a rather awkward kind of smile. "Oh, err- hi, Luna," he said and his look darted quickly from her to Harry, and back again, as if he was unsure of what to do.

Harry smiled at her and gave a quick friendly wave of greeting. Hermione, who was standing close to him, also smiled.

Ginny had noticed her and came over to them, followed closely by a woman who looked a lot like her: two identical pairs of friendly brown eyes looked at her, surrounded by the same flame-red hair. The only difference was that Ginny was a lot younger, and not as stout as the woman.

"Hi, Luna!" she called and waved. "Mum, this is Luna Lovegood," she added, turning towards the woman.

"Hello, Luna," the woman said with a friendly smile. "I'm Ginny and Ron's mum. Ginny talked a lot about you during the summer." The woman stepped closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I want to thank you, Luna. Ginny told me how you helped Ron and her in the Department of Mysteries last year. Who knows what would have happened to them if it hadn't been for you..." She trailed off.

"Oh, you're welcome," Luna replied and felt pleased. She beamed. Not only had Ginny remembered her, but she had also talked about her in a positive light. They were all so friendly to her, no one muttered "Loony Lovegood" and pointed his finger at her. On the contrary, they were all smiling. Ronald looked a little awkward, but Luna guessed he wasn't feeling well. Maybe he had eaten too much in the morning. She decided to preserve this moment of happiness in her mind along with her other happy memories, so she could conjure them up when she needed a bit of cheering up.

"Come on, now," growled a man behind Mrs Weasley. Luna recognized him as Professor Moody, who had taught them two years ago. "Hurry up, you lot, get onto the train," he said and made shooing movements with his hands.

Behind him Professor Lupin appeared, looking tired and shabby in his patched robe.

"Hello, Professor Lupin," Luna greeted him.

A wry smile passed over Lupin's face. "Hello, Luna," he said. "It's nice to see you." Then he walked off on his way.

The platform was full of former professors today, it seemed. That reminded Luna of Professor Lockhart and she wondered briefly what had become of him. She hadn't seen him since the end of her first year, but she still remembered his bright smile that had seemed to cheer up the mornings for her. Maybe he was a male model for wizarding robes; she thought it would be a fitting job for him, what with his dazzling white teeth and the self-confidence he had very obviously had.

Then again, maybe he had gone back to travelling around the world and rescuing people. But why hadn't he published another book, then? After all, it had been three years; he would have seen a lot of things. Probably Minister Fudge had some information about him that made him dangerous- maybe he had fought the secret army of Heliopaths Fudge had built up? That could be, of course... Luna wondered if the Ministry of Magic could put someone in prison for fighting the secret army of the Minister of Magic. That would explain his long absence from public.

A loud whistle interfered with her line of thinking and she looked up to find the platform nearly deserted; only a few students were still outside the train. She grabbed the handle of her trunk and queued up behind the other people in front of one the doors.

When finally she had gotten inside, the others had vanished and were nowhere in sight. Luna shrugged inwardly and went to a compartment where four people were sitting.

"Hello," she said and poked her head inside, "is it okay if I take one seat?"

"Sure," a little girl said, but a boy sitting next to her nudged her hard.

"No, I'm sorry," he said without the slightest trace of regret in his voice. "We're still waiting for someone." He stared up at her from his seat as if daring her to reply, slowly folding his arms. He lifted his chin slightly and looked at her with raised eyebrows.

Luna felt annoyed. It was not nice at all to see the unhidden revulsion and disgust in his eyes. He didn't even know her! Did he simply judge her because of prejudices he had heard from others? Luna couldn't imagine anyone doing that. It was so... dumb. They were simply saying what others were telling them to say. Didn't these people have an opinion of their own? She shook her head a little in disbelief. "Incredible, incredible," her daddy would mutter now and scratch his head thoughtfully, were he with her. The thought made the annoyance vanish and, without taking further notice of the boy, she went out of the compartment again. Behind her she heard the boy's voice say loudly and in a voice full of distaste and scolding, "That's _Loony_ _Lovegood_, Anna. We don't want her in our compartment, understood?"

Luna wandered down the corridor. All along the way people stopped and stared at her. Some older students told their smaller siblings about "Loony Lovegood", not caring to keep their voices down, and some Slytherins even laughed at her openly.

She continued to pull her trunk behind her, listening to what the others said about her with a mixture of fascination and the want to block it all out. It was some sort of weird curiosity, but most of the time she chose to ignore the comments. When she found an empty compartment, she settled down next to the window. She pulled Merlin, her fluffy teddy bear, out of one pocket of her coat and placed him in her lap carefully.

She looked down at him lovingly and stroked over his left ear carefully, because it seemed to fall off every moment and was only attached by a few sparse threads. He had once been bright yellow, but through the years the sun had bleached him until, with the dirt, the colour resembled nothing more than very old parchment. He had only one of his button-eyes left; for the other one, Luna had made two clumsy stitches with a needle years ago and now he sported a black X for his right eye.

However, all these blemishes couldn't stop Luna from loving him dearly and taking him to bed with her every night. Once, before she had started Hogwarts, her father had tried to take him away from her, but she had thrown a tantrum and had begged him to give him back to her until he couldn't resist any longer.

When she was finished looking at Merlin, she reached into her pocket, pulled out the pre-print issue of _The Quibbler_ and sighed happily.

Just at that very moment, the compartment door opened and someone poked his head in. "Oh no," he groaned when he saw her. Then he quickly recollected himself. "Erm..." he said, "everywhere else's full. Do you mind us sitting here?"

Luna looked at him intently, looked at his dark hair, which was cut very short, stared at his eyes until she saw what eye-colour he had -brown, noticed his brand-new Muggle clothes and thought. Eventually, she nodded.

"Come in," she said and turned back to looking at the cover of _The Quibbler_, which featured a photo of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack she had taken in Sweden.

She felt a smile spread on her face as memories of their holiday came back to her; felt again the excited tingle in her stomach she had had when they had, finally, after two weeks of restless wandering around, seen a herd of Snorkacks near a lake, grazing like sheep. They didn't have the fluffy hide sheep had, but had nearly black, naked skin and reddish-brown fangs that looked so long that Lund thought they could easily kill somebody from three feet away. They really looked that long. And, even more important, they had smelled most distastingly like old cheese left in the sun; a smell that, weirdly enough, faintly reminded her of the scent ascending from her father's boots after a day of wandering. But still, Luna thought, they looked a lot like sheep.

With a deep sigh of delight she opened the magazine and started to read the first article.

An hour had passed when the door slid open and the witch with the sweet trolley looked in. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked with a friendly smile.

Luna searched for a few coins in her pockets and bought a packet of Chocolate Frogs, while the boys in the compartment bought a huge bag of _Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans_. For a while, Luna amused herself by watching them eat them and make faces when they got something like bogey or earwax. Still, it became boring after a while and she returned to the article about a goblin conspiracy she had been reading before.

Absent-mindedly she opened the first Chocolate Frog and stuffed it into her mouth without looking at the card. They didn't interest her at all and she couldn't understand the fuss everybody seemed to make about them. Far too soon the packet was empty and all Chocolate Frogs were eaten. Just as she was about to throw all the cards into the waste bin, one of the boys started to wave his hand in front of her face.

"No!" he said breathlessly and stared at her, his blue eyes wide in shock. "You can't just throw them away!"

"Of course I can," Luna said and wondered why he was so interested in what she was doing all of a sudden. She walked over to the waste bin and threw the cards inside.

The boy stared at her for a moment, and then he raced to the bin and started fishing the cards out again. "Morgana!" he exclaimed suddenly. "I've been searching for this one for years!" He flashed Luna a very angry look that clearly said, _How can you _not _collect these cards? How can you just throw them away? _Then he stomped back to his seat, clutching the Morgana card to his chest.

Luna thought that he was a very crazy boy, making such fuss about a little piece of cardboard, went back to her seat and took a quill out of her trunk. Then she turned _The Quibbler_ upside down and began doing the crossword, raising the issue high so that the others couldn't see her face.

When she looked up again, she saw that all the boys were already dressed in their Hogwarts robes. She looked out of the window and indeed, the sky had darkened noticeably. She grabbed her robes and went to the toilet to change, then went back to her compartment and placed her _Quibbler_ carefully with all her other books in her trunk, closed the lid and prepared herself to leave.

Eventually, when everything outside had become black, the train stopped and students of all ages flooded out of the doors. She herself was one of the last ones to leave the train. It was still a very warm night and she dawdled along to enjoy the pleasant wind on her skin a little more. Slowly, she wandered over to the carriages with the Thestrals. Of course, by then most of the carriages were full, but in the end she managed to find a seat in one full of little children who looked like they could be second years. They all shot her curious looks, accompanied by hushed whispers from which she could only make out only a few words. Those she heard were the usual ones- "Loony Lovegood... odd... Quibbler..." but Luna chose to look out of the window instead of letting them get to her.

They arrived at Hogwarts and went to the Great Hall. The usual scenario began: a long, long line of first years entered the Hall, looking fearful, and everyone stared at them;

Professor McGonagall fetched the Sorting Hat and her list of students; the Hat sang and the Sorting began.

At first, she still paid attention to what was going on, saw "Allen, Nina" become a Slytherin, clapped for "Asher, Darby", the first Ravenclaw, and stared at "Bartley, Rory", whose head was nearly too big for the Hat, but who was finally sorted into Hufflepuff nonetheless.

Next to sort was "Close, Anna", the little girl she had seen earlier on the train. She was sorted into Ravenclaw and Luna tried to give her a friendly smile, but she sat too far down the table.

Then, she started to lose interest. After all, every year was the same procedure and, as she didn't have any relatives that would be the right age for Hogwarts, she didn't really care.

However, when the Sorting was nearly over, the last boy to be sorted caught her eye. "Wayne, Pip", McGonagall called and the boy stepped forward. He was unbelievably small and looked like could only be eight years old. Luna would never have thought he was eleven already.

After a short while, the Hat shouted "SLYTHERIN" and the Slytherins cheered and clapped, then went back to the usual sneers and bored expressions they wore when new students were sorted into the other Houses. Professor McGonagall carried away the Hat and stool and Dumbledore slowly rose to his feet.

"To our newcomers, a hearty welcome," he said. "To the rest of you- welcome back to a new year at Hogwarts. I don't want to bore you with many words. At least," he said with a smile, "not now: Tuck in!"

With that, the golden plates before Luna filled themselves with food. Hungrily, she piled her plate up with golden-brown fried potatoes and fat, juicy sausages. Then, she filled her goblet with cool Pumpkin Juice, listening intently to Su Li, who was sitting two seats to her left, telling her friend about her holiday in Spain. After a while, that became boring, though, because the only thing Li seemed to be interested in was the "_unbelievably_ wide range of different kinds of _stones_" she had found while on vacation. So Luna tilted her head to the right, where Michael Corner was sitting, boasting about the new broom he had received for his birthday. Luna stifled a yawn. Why were these people so narrow-minded?

After a second and third helping she stopped eating, resting for a while before she chose an apple, some blancmange and a piece of fruit tart for dessert.

Slowly, it became quiet as students began to look up to the High Table, waiting for Dumbledore's annual speech. As he got up, even the last ones stopped talking. Luna allowed her gaze to wander up to the High Table, but thought with a tiny sigh that she didn't much care what the Headmaster had to tell them. It was the same every year anyway.

"Before anything else, I'd just like to go through some school rules you all should know. Nobody is allowed into the Forbidden Forest without the permission and company of a teacher. Some of our older students should know that by now, too," he added and looks flickered in the direction of Harry and Ron, both of whom pretended to not have heard that last sentence. Hermione was sitting next to Harry with a facial expression that said clearly "_I told you"_ and strangely reminded Luna of Professor McGonagall.

"Mr Filch has added fifty new objects to his list of forbidden things. If anyone wants to know what exactly they are, Mr Filch has been so kind as to pin the list to the door of his office. And now, please welcome with me your new Defence against the Dark Arts- teacher, Professor Hamilton-Jones."

Luna looked at the new professor with interest and found her to be a woman of around her father's age with her hair in short, blonde waves. She flashed a warm, friendly smile as Dumbledore indicated her with a movement of his arm, stood up and then quickly sat down again.

Having heard all that, Luna got ready to rise, aiming to leave as soon as possible to get to bed, but it seemed Dumbledore did not want her to sleep quite that early. After the polite applause that had followed his short speech, he hadn't sat down again but remained standing instead. Luna groaned quietly. She was tired, she wanted to get to bed and sleep, why did he have to hold her off any longer? All around her she heard people complain, too. Still, they all looked up at the High Table in the end, curious as to what he had to say.

Dumbledore spread his arms, as if pulling them all into an imaginary embrace, and suddenly there was complete silence in the Great Hall. Everyone was staring at the Headmaster. His appearance had changed, though not physically. For a moment, he wasn't only their old and sometimes weird Headmaster, but one of, if not _the_ most powerful wizard in the world. Many understood only then why he was the only one Voldemort feared- he had some kind of aura around him that was not really visible, but they all knew nevertheless that it was there.

Then he leaned forward, put his hands on the table and gave one of his familiar friendly smiles with a twinkling glimmer in his blue eyes. Suddenly, everything was over- the aura of power had vanished as if being covered with a blanket. Dumbledore was just their Headmaster again.

Slowly, he looked around the Hall as if seeing it all for the first time. He allowed his gaze to slowly and steadily take in the whole room. After studying the room, he cast his eyes to the students and looked over the House tables intently.

When his eyes fixed on to the Ravenclaw table, Luna suddenly felt observed. It seemed that he was staring straight into her eyes with a gaze so intense that she thought he was surely able to look directly into her heart.

The girl next to her sighed quietly and shuddered. Luna wondered whether she was the only one who felt this way or whether his look affected all of them.

Finally, his look wandered further and, when his eyes reached the doors, he cleared his throat and looked at all the students again.

"As I said before- welcome to Hogwarts, my dears," he started, still with a friendly smile.

His countenance changed, leaving his face grave and unusually serious. He continued with a hint of urgency creeping into his voice.

"I have a request- for _all_ of you: fight evil; stand up for your opinion and don't cower in fear of more or less important men. When every one of you does live up to the tasks your time gives you, then there is hope. For all of us. For a peaceful future. Or, at least, for a future that is more peaceful than it is these days."

Luna saw a wry smile pass over McGonagall's face as the professor took a sip out of her goblet and set it back on the table, listening intently to the Headmaster.

"In these dark times, it is very important to be united. I don't simply refer to your little groups inside your houses," he continued, and heads turned both into the direction of Draco Malfoy and his friends and Harry and his friends, "but to the school as a whole. You are not only to be united in your houses- the houses themselves should bury their animosities and become united once more, as was the case many, many years ago.

"Together, we're strong. Together, we have the power to stave off Voldemort's rise to power a while longer." He stopped and smiled at his students, many of whom had pained expressions on their faces.

"You know, fearing his name won't be helpful in our fight against evil. Fear of the name only increases the fear of the thing itself." He smiled kindly at his frightened students.

"Of course, I understand no one is going to make new friends in all the other houses immediately and leave their old friends behind. That would be nonsense. But I want each and every one of you to try to understand the others more, instead of hating each other without any real reason. I want you to respect your fellow students and their opinions, even if you don't agree with them. That doesn't make their opinion less worthy than yours. I want _all_ of you to put personal enmities under our common aim and stand united against the enemy. Thank you."

Luna was caught in the spell of his words for some moments. It was not simply what Dumbledore had said; although, of course, that was the most important part. However, the way his words elegantly flowed between them, filling the students with a quiet peace that spread through the hall like fine rain, held her enraptured. Again, like the aura he had around him before, it was something she couldn't quite put her finger on- it was the tone of his voice, the power behind it and the urgency that spoke through every single syllable.

When she looked up and down the Ravenclaw table, she saw almost all of her Housemates wearing surprised faces, some of them more positively so, some more negatively. When she looked behind her she saw that most Slytherins looked either indifferent or furious, but all of them were still staring up at the High Table, as if they expected Dumbledore to continue his speech and tell them all it was only a bad joke. In fact, Luna noticed, almost everyone in the Great Hall was staring up at the High Table. Most of the teachers wore expressionless faces or looked slightly surprised. Only Snape had his usual facial expression of disapproval and annoyance and looked a lot like Draco Malfoy in this aspect. Obviously he wasn't too pleased with what the Headmaster had just said.

Eventually, somebody at the Gryffindor table began to clap and slowly everyone joined in, even the teachers and a larger proportion of the Slytherins than Luna had thought possible. Although, of course, many of them refused to applaud Dumbledore and sat there with folded arms and cool expressions on their faces; but nobody had honestly expected more of them.

At the High Table, something strange happened. Professor McGonagall stood up, too. The noise slowly faded and many stared at her curiously. She cleared her throat delicately and started speaking. Luna saw some red spots appearing on her already flushed cheeks.

"If you will permit me, I want to add something in my position as Deputy Headmistress. I am speaking on behalf of the staff here- well, the majority of them." She shot Snape a quick look, and then continued.

"We have been thinking a lot during the holidays and came to the conclusion that the unification between the houses should not only be advanced by the staff, but also and especially by the students.

"We want each and every one of you to participate when we are about to fight the most evil and cruel wizard who has ever existed. I am sure we have many open and creative students. I am sure that some of you might have some good ideas on how to improve relations between students as well. I beg everyone who has even a vague idea that might help to come to my office at any time. Thank you."

She sat down again and polite applause rattled through the hall. Her speech, however, had not left an impression as strong as Dumbledore's and slowly students started talking again and soon went to the doors. Prefects started collecting their first years around them and led them out of the Great Hall and towards their dormitories. Luna quickly got up too and went out after the Hufflepuff first years, who were chattering excitedly.

There were too many of them wanting to get out swifter than logic and sense would allow and there was a little traffic jam as usual. Luna waited patiently and stepped a few steps back. A girl in Gryffindor robes stood next to her.

"It's the same every year, isn't it?" she asked Luna with a small smile in her voice.

"Yeah, that's right," Luna nodded and watched the small bodies in front of her jostling to come through the door fast.

"You're Luna Lovegood, aren't you?" the girl asked her suddenly.

Luna looked at her, surprised. "Yes, I am." She eyed the girl cautiously. What would be coming now? A lot of conversations had started this way and turned out bad.

"I saw your lion head last year for the Quidditch game against Slytherin," she continued. "People were talking about it for days. It was amazing. I'm Natalie MacDonald, by the way."

"Pleasure," Luna said automatically and felt pleased. The sneer had not come and no mean comments had followed. This girl seemed to be nice. Slowly the way was getting free again for them to walk through.

"Are you really into Quidditch?" Natalie inquired as they walked through the huge doors close to each other.

"I like watching it," Luna said with a small shrug. "But I don't have the talent for playing it. But there are more important things, right?"

"Well, I don't know," Natalie replied, rubbing her forefinger over one of her brows. "I think I'm going to try out for Chaser, now Angelina and Katie have left."

"You do that," Luna said. "I'm sure you'll make it."

"Thanks," Natalie said and smiled at her a little shyly. "Well, I have to go down here," she added and pointed into a corridor to their left.

"Bye," Luna said and smiled, then turned right and crossed the Entrance Hall to get to the corridor that led towards Ravenclaw Tower.

Slowly, she trotted towards the Ravenclaw common room, still thinking about Dumbledore and McGonagall's speeches. Her feet had found the way automatically and, before she knew it, she found herself standing in front of the old oak door that marked the entrance to her common room.

"Password?" the door demanded, even as its face came from the wooden knots and whorls, a squashed nose, beady eyes and an overly large face coming out of the oak panels. The voice was piece of work, managing to sound as though a large family of ten was camped out in the vocal chords and a flock of swallows were beating around the nasal passages. The effect was more than a little grating and not something anyone liked to put up with at any hours of the day or night.

Luna opened her mouth to answer- and closed it again. What _was _the new password?

She stood around for a few minutes, waiting for someone to come along. Finally a group of seventh years came up. None of them gave Luna even a little glance.

She heard the bored "Password?" from the door again, but obviously they knew it. One of the girls answered "Bookworm" in an equally fed up voice and the door swung open. Luna took her time following the seventh years into the common room and the door grumbled bad-temperedly.

"Come on now!" it complained loudly, making a few first years jump at the sound akin to that of nails scraping against glass. "You don't have all day!" Luna pretended she didn't hear it and went on with her slow climb into the common room. The door shut itself rudely behind her, but again, she ignored it.

She walked down the corridor to her dormitory, thinking about the holidays and her trip to Sweden with her father, absent-mindedly greeting people along the way.

Before she opened the door, she paused and took a deep breath. _Here goes_, she thought and prepared herself for going inside. She imagined the place that had become some sort of second home for her, despite the not really amiable companionship.

With a last deep breath Luna opened the door and walked into the room, which was only dimly lit by two chandeliers on the ceiling. The six four-poster beds were standing in a row along one wall.

All of the dark blue curtains were drawn back and all of the other girls were still awake. Pandora and Bianca were sitting on one bed, giggling over some photos, and Audrey was leaning against a bedpost, reading a book that looked a lot like their Transfiguration book for the year.

Two others were leaning at two bedposts in a very nonchalant manner. Agatha looked like a female version of Crabbe and Goyle, if not worse. She had a face like a bull and her body looked nearly square. Carmella, on the other hand, was tall and slender, but her arms and legs didn't fit the rest of her body: they seemed to be too long. She wore square glasses that made her otherwise pretty face look rather strange.

She smelled the faint scent of cinnamon that was always in the air in here, although she still hadn't detected its source. Also, it smelled of dark blue. When she had told the others about it, they had all laughed at her and had asked her how colours smelled, but Luna could smell it. It was just like you could smell green in the air when winter was retreating and the grass began to grow. The colour ascended from the dark blue curtains of the four-posters and the quilts covering their beds.

She started to walk over to the opposite end of the room, where her bed stood, next to the window. She could already see the moon, partly hidden behind clouds that looked like streaks of an artist's brush on an otherwise black background.

Carmella sneered behind her back. "Oi, Lovegood," she said. "Where are your manners? Not even a little 'hello' for your dear friends after such a long time apart?"

Luna turned around and stared at her for a while, taking in her new hairstyle and her raised eyebrows. Suddenly the girls on the bed went silent, too, and there was complete stillness in the dormitory. All of a sudden, a book fell off the bed the three girls were sitting on. Audrey murmured a swearword and leaned off the bed to retrieve it, supporting herself with one hand so as not to fall down, too.

One of the others giggled and said in a hushed voice, "Audrey, you're so clumsy!"

Audrey lifted her head up again, book in hand, her face flushed. Whether the colour came from bending down or from the comment, Luna wasn't sure.

She turned her silvery eyes towards the tall girl with the glasses again, who started shifting- obviously she felt uncomfortable under her appraising, unblinking stare.

"Hello," Luna finally said in her dreamy voice, hoping it stopped the others mocking her. She really was too put out already for that night. She turned around again and walked towards her bed. When she had reached it, she bent down to her trunk and opened the lid.

Slowly she started to unpack her things, carefully putting them in their correct places. _The socks into this drawer_, she thought, _and my skirts next to them._ Meanwhile, the other girls had gone back to their own business. One of them had started rummaging in her bag and throwing things behind her carelessly. Luna could hear the hollow _thump_ when another object hit the floor.

"Got it!" the girl suddenly exclaimed and Luna turned round to see what she had been seeking.

Audrey was standing in the middle of the room in a sea of random things lying all around her, clutching another book to her chest, beaming. Luna could make out something from the title and frowned slightly. _The Moste Potente Book of How to Improve Your Marks_? Audrey was a very clever girl and had always had rather good marks, as far as Luna knew. She didn't actually need that book. With that ambition, she would have fitted into Slytherin easily.

"Hey, that looks interesting," Carmella, the girl with the square glasses, said suddenly. "Would you mind me having a look at that?"

The two of them went over to another bed and Carmella dragged the plump girl with her with a muttered, "Come _on_, Agatha, you actually need that a lot more than I do..."

Luna turned back to her trunk, putting her second set of Hogwarts robes and her cloak on coat hangers, then closed the trunk and shoved it into the corner. Next, she grabbed a nightgown and went out into the washroom to change, then quickly returned to the warm dormitory. Nobody reacted when she came back in and with an inward sigh the feeling of being left out she knew so well returned.

"Good night," she said to nobody in particular and smiled casually in the direction of the other girls. No one replied. Although she hadn't expected anything else, it still hurt her. It was not that big a deal to answer her, but the others probably didn't see the need to take notice of her.

Burying these thoughts, she stepped towards the window and looked out into the dark sky. The moon had started to rise over the Forbidden Forest and made the lake gleam with a surreal light.

This was her favourite time. Luna loved the moon and the cool light that was not even its own. It was fascinating for her how it could be that bright without being lit from within. In the holidays, she often stayed awake only to watch the moon for hours and hours and dream away. Although, Sweden had proved to be something of a disappointment when she had learned that there wasn't a moon in Sweden in the summer, but there was sunlight around the clock. When eventually she returned home, she had stayed awake all night, in spite of being tired from the long journey, to bask in the rays of the moonlight that she had sorely missed.

However, now that school had started again, she'd have to go to bed early again. She sighed and reluctantly pulled herself away from the window, shooting one last longing look at the moon. Then she went to her bed, lay down and closed the curtains around her, leaving only the one that faced the window drawn back so she could watch it until she fell asleep.

She could hear Audrey and Carmella talking quietly, interrupted from time to time by a grunted comment from Agatha, while the two other girls were still giggling. She wondered abstractly whether they were laughing about her. She told herself she didn't care and turned to lie on her other side.

One of them suddenly squealed and screamed, "Oh, he looks sooo cute!"

Obviously, they weren't talking about her, then, but about some holiday pictures. Luna fleetingly wondered why some of her roommates were in Ravenclaw: they were not the slightest bit intelligent and seemingly had no interest in books or learning at all. The only subject that they attacked with any enthusiasm was boys, be it boys at Hogwarts, someone in _Witch Weekly_ or their latest love from the last holidays.

Luna thought her own placement was wrong, too. She had always thought she would have been suited to Gryffindor far more than Ravenclaw. She didn't like learning for starters. On the contrary, she thought they were taught far too many unnecessary things at Hogwarts. She didn't consider herself to be particularly studious, either, like most Ravenclaws were, although she knew from her test scores and other things that she was intelligent. Still, the attitude of the majority of Ravenclaws seemed exaggerated to her- studying and even more studying, pressing as much theory into their heads as they could. Luna was more for the practical side of things, which was another reason why she thought she should be in Gryffindor.

She knew she was brave and could fight; she had always known it. But it had only been in June that she had finally been able to prove it. But how well she had proved it! She had fought against the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries alone and had also managed to carry the hurt Weasleys, Ron and Ginny, with her and away from the danger.

But obviously the Hat had seen her differently and had put her into the wrong house for some unknown reason.

She sighed, rolled herself into a ball under her sheets and pulled her teddy into her arms. "Well, Merlin," she whispered. "Another year at Hogwarts, in the wrong house again. But at least I won't have to wait too much longer now. After this year, it's only two more years and I'm out of here... eventually."

Her eyelids became heavier and heavier, feeling increasingly as though they were filled with lead. Reluctantly, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. As she drifted out of consciousness, she heard Dumbledore's voice in her head again, filling her mind.

_Of course, I understand no one is going to make new friends in all the other houses immediately and leave their old friends behind._

She felt a shiver run down her spine as she felt again the immense power of his voice, the urgency that approached her like a creature again, pleading her to be with it in its cause.

Suddenly, Luna was awake again- why shouldn't they do exactly that? An idea started to form itself in her head... and Luna knew, without a hint of arrogance, that it was brilliant.

She closed her eyes again with a satisfied smile on her face. Finally, she had managed to find a way to get out of Ravenclaw.


	2. Luna 2

Luna woke up early the next morning, finding herself lying with her head at the bottom end of her bed. Her quilt was only covering her hips and belly: the rest of it lay on the ground. She sat up, yawned and stretched with a moan as she felt the tensed-up muscles in her shoulders. Then she looked out of the window and all thoughts of pain vanished as she saw the fading darkness of the night sky, the moon still faintly visible.

She had always loved the angle from which she could see over the Hogwarts grounds - she could see the roof of one of the greenhouses, the Forbidden Forest and the lake, in all its beauty. Morning mist was hovering over the lake's surface and wafting through the first rows of trees in the Forbidden Forest.

Slowly the sun began to rise over the mountains and sent its first rays of light through the mist, making it gleam. Only the smallest tendrils of orange light were wending their way over the horizon. Luna knelt on her bed, quilt clutched to her chest, paralysed in awe as she looked at this spectacle of nature.

Suddenly a loud snore from one of the beds made her jerk and come back to reality.

Luna shot one more longing look out of the window, then got out of bed. Merlin had fallen out during the night and was now staring up at her accusingly with his two dissimilar eyes. Luna felt a small tinge of guilt upon realizing that that had probably been her fault when she had turned around in her sleep. Carefully she picked him up again, placed him on her pillow and gave him a small kiss, lovingly making sure that he couldn't fall down again.

Quickly she opened her wardrobe. Due to her perfect order, she didn't have to search long to find her favourite underwear, which was red and had a lot of little golden Nifflers on it. It was one purposeful grab into the topmost drawer and she held it in hand. Pulling open the bottom drawer, she took out pairs of socks until she could see her lucky-charm knee-length socks. She wore them only on special occasions: that was why they were at the far back of the drawer. She admired their beautiful green and blue stripes, as she did every time before she wore them, and carefully put the other socks back.

Then Luna brought her lucky-charm socks to her face and inhaled deeply. It might have been her imagination, but she could still smell the faint smell of roses that had always surrounded her mother. Her mother had knitted them for her and had embroidered the two white _L_s upon each of them without magic. Throwing them away was out of the question. She would wear these socks whenever she needed luck and the help from her mother, until they'd be made of more holes than actual material. But it was still a long time to go before that happened, and today she would definitely need every ounce of help she could get, so she put them on.

From her bedside table, she took her Butterbeer-cork necklace, tying it carefully around her neck, and her old pocket watch with the two small brooms as hands that showed her that at the moment it wasn't even six o'clock yet. She slipped it into her pocket, and quietly made her way towards the door.

Standing next to the door, with the handle in her hand, she looked around her dormitory. It was definitely amazing how dirty it was. After all, they had been in there for only a few hours, and yet the floor was covered with magazines, clothes, Chocolate Frog wrappers and photos lying scattered all throughout the room. And that was only what she could see in the dim light coming through the window.

Her bed at the far wall was like some stranger in this room, because the floor around it actually was as clean as it had been when she had arrived. Not even her old socks from yesterday were still lying on the floor, because she just couldn't stand waking up in the morning and being greeted by dirty underwear from the day before. Luna shuddered at the thought.

Next to the door, there was a chaotic heap of shoes in different sizes and colours. Her shoes were mixed into it, too, although she had placed them there neatly, standing in pairs the evening beforeObviously the others had had fun mixing them with their shoes.

Luna picked up a small, slim sandal the colour of the sky on a sunny morning in the summer and turned it slowly, admiringly taking in every detail of the shoe, then looked down at her own feet that were not quite as small and slim as the ones that might fit into it. With a small sigh, she grabbed her left boot, which was made of stag leather and was solid, to be true, but by no means as beautiful as the light sandal.

The other boot, however, couldn't be found anywhere in or near the heap. After a few minutes of searching, it became quite clear to her that the others had hidden it. She rolled her eyes; it had never begun this early before, usually they started hiding her things only when a little time had gone by and everybody was acquainted with again. Shrugging slightly, she bent down to pick up one of her other shoes. However, it seemed the others had hidden all her right shoes. She sighed, exasperated. Then she took a blood red trainer she used to wear for flying lessons. She slipped into it, forgetting entirely to tie the laces, and looked down at herself.

The trainer sported a hole in the place where her big toe was, and the stripes of her socks showed through. Fascinated, Luna stared at her right foot for a moment and wiggled her toes, which looked kind of funny with the big toe in its striped dress.

Eventually, she tore her gaze away from the shoe and departed into the corridor. As soon as the door had closed behind her, all warmth disappeared and she shivered. Here it was much colder than in the dormitory, where the heat that ascended from six bodies kept the temperature warm and comfortable. In the corridor, there was only a long stretch of cold stone. Of course, there were candles along the wall in certain places, gleaming softly in their bronze candleholders, but they were not designed to spread warmth. One of them flickered as Luna went by at a quick pace, wanting to escape the coldness as soon as possible.

She noticed that the air was growing steadily warmer as she got closer to the common room, where a fire was roaring in the fireplace, giving off heat. When she opened the door that marked the entrance to the common room, the heat was like a solid wall she suddenly faced in contrast to the icy air in the corridor. She sighed and hurried over to the hearth, warming her hands. It was only then that she noticed the House Elf who was busy tending the fire.

"Good morning," Luna greeted the small creature with a friendly smile. The Elf started and looked round at her.

"Good morning, Miss," it said in a squeaky voice.

Luna smiled; she liked these friendly little creatures. Slowly, as she felt the heat from the fire spread through her body again, she strolled across the room towards the oak door and stopped to look at the notice board. There were already some notices pinned to it. One jumped out at her immediately, probably because it was written in bright pink ink. It said "Need extra tuition? Contact Hamish McNeil!"

Luna shook her head, slightly amused- she didn't know Hamish too well, but he always wrote in pink ink and also covered all of his school books in pinkish paper to keep them from getting dirty.

Suddenly, she realised she had forgotten something. She sighed and made her way back across the room, into the icy corridor and finally into her dormitory.

She went over to her bed, gave Merlin a small smile and pulled up the quilt so it covered his little body. Luna thought it was her responsibility to take care that he wasn't cold, so it was very important for her to make sure he had a warm bed to sleep in.

Luna drew her school robes out of the wardrobe and picked up her schoolbag. It weighed heavily on her shoulder with all the new schoolbooks in it. Luna noticed a small rip in the leather where they had poked their edges through the material. A Sugar Quill was peering out of the bag and Luna stuffed it back in, carefully making sure it didn't break.

She went back to the door, cautiously trying to avoid stepping on the things lying on the floor, especially the things Audrey had thrown out of her bag the evening before. Luna stopped to look at one of the books that lay scattered on the floor. _The Lord of the Rings_? That sounded funny, she thought. It was probably a muggle book, because she had never heard of it before.

She continued her way to the door and opened it. It creaked, probably because she had opened it too slowly, and one of the girls lifted her head slightly from her pillow and opened her eyes.

"Whassup?" she asked sleepily.

"It's alright, Audrey," Luna said quietly. "Get back to sleep."

Audrey grumbled quietly and fell asleep again. Luna went out.

By the time she got back into the common room, the Elf had vanished and the floor was clean. The door opened and Luna stepped out into yet another icy corridor. This time, however, it wasn't in Ravenclaw Tower, but in the main part of the school. Luna took a deep breath as she heard the door close behind her with a quiet click. Outside Ravenclaw Tower, Luna always felt better, although she couldn't say why. It was a feeling like a weight was lifted from her chest, making breathing easier.

She stared around aimlessly, thinking about her plan. There was nothing that could possibly make it better, at least in her opinion. It was perfect. Luna smiled, satisfied, and started walking, humming "Weasley is our King" under her breath, tapping the rhythm with her fingers on her school bag. She turned left and stepped into another dark corridor. It didn't look very inviting, but that didn't matter: she had a mission to accomplish, and a dark corridor surely wasn't going to stop her from doing so.

It was a long walk to Professor McGonagall's office, and Luna was slightly out of breath when she got there. She stopped to catch her breath before raising her hand to knock.

Then she hesitated. _Should I really tell McGonagall_? she thought.

What if her plan was nonsense and her professor wouldn't like it?

What if she wouldn't want to talk to her?

What if- _Stop that, Luna_, she scolded herself.

Why did this make her so nervous? Normally she wasn't shy and rarely pondered decisions for a long time, so why should she start now?

She knocked resolutely, then stepped back politely and waited for McGonagall to open the door.

She stood there for quite a while and stared around, looking at the portrait of a knight in shining armour who sat in a comfortable-looking chair and snored loudly. She wondered who he was, and found a small sign next to the picture that read _"Alpin the Angry9th- century Warrior and Healer" _Luna looked at him inquiringly, daring him to wake up. She wondered why he wore armour and not one of the Healer's green robes, but then she supposed he could have been a warrior for the muggles and would therefore have had to wear it.

He had taken off his helmet: it lay on the floor with a small cat sleeping inside it like a bird in a nest. Luna smiled. It looked too cute- the helmet was nearly twice as big as the cat.

One lock of the knight's long reddish-blond hair had fallen into his face and went up and down as he snored. Occasionally, he blinked unconsciously when the hair fell into his eyes. It was a fascinating spectacle and Luna had already forgotten her mission as she continued to watch him snore and his lock flying up and down, her arms clutched around her to save her from the cold.

A tartan carpet was hanging on the wall, the reds and greens difficult to tell apart in the dim light in the portrait. That stirred something in Luna's mind. She looked up and around, confused. Where was she? And why had she come here in the first place?

She noticed the door and remembered. She had wanted to tell McGonagall about her plan - how could she have forgotten?

She knocked again, a bit harder this time. Then she stepped back again and started waiting again.

Again, her Transfiguration teacher did not answer.

"Professor?" she called through the door five minutes later. "Professor McGonagall? Are you in there?"

Then she pressed her ear to the door. Why were professors never there when you needed them?

Eventually, she could hear footsteps inside and quickly went back a few steps again not to look too officious.

The door opened with a creak to reveal her Transfiguration teacher standing in front of her in a tartan dressing gown over a dark nightie. Her hair, normally pulled back in a strict bun, flowed around her shoulders, loose. Luna was surprised at how long it was; she supposed it was probably down to the middle of her back. It looked quite windswept and messy.

Luna couldn't help but stare - she had never seen her Deputy Headmistress in a state like that. It was completely unlike McGonagall's immensely strict nature.

"_Yes?_" McGonagall snapped irritably. "Miss Lovegood, is there _any_ reason for you to knock at my door like a maniac at the break of dawn? Explain yourself, and make it quick please, or I will have to take points from your House!"

"No," Luna said. "I mean, yes. I mean - don't take points from my House; and yes, there is a reason why I am here."

"And that would be?" McGonagall asked, pursing her lips.

"I have a problem-" Luna began, but the Transfiguration Professor interrupted her.

"If you have any problems, please talk to your Head of House. I'm sure Professor Flitwick will be glad to help you. Now, if you will excuse me-"

She made a half-hearted attempt at a friendly smile and pushed her spectacles back up her nose again.

"Good bye." With that, she made to close the door again, but Luna had her foot between door and doorframe.

"It's not the sort of problem I could talk about to Professor Flitwick," she said. "I can talk about it only to you, Professor. May I come in, please?"

Professor McGonagall looked at her for a moment, apparently thinking hard. Then she sighed, looking defeated, and opened the door.

"Kindly come in, Miss Lovegood. I don't suppose you want to discuss whatever it is you want to say here in the corridor. I don't particularly want that, either," she added witheringly, ushering Luna in with her hand and stepping aside to allow the girl access.

Luna smiled. She was relieved that McGonagall was quick on the uptake.

"No, I don't think that would be the appropriate place for a request such as the one I have." With these words, she stepped into the professor's office.

Luna waited for McGonagall to close the door behind her and step behind her desk. Meanwhile, she occupied herself with staring at the red-brown floral carpet that was unbelievably ugly - at least in her eyes - but somehow it fitted McGonagall nevertheless.

Finally, the Deputy Headmistress had closed the door.

"Take a seat, Miss Lovegood," she said and gestured towards the table and chairs that stood next to one of the windows.

"No, thank you, I prefer to remain standing," Luna replied politely.

McGonagall shot her an angry look and Luna corrected herself.

"Well, maybe I would prefer to sit..."

Professor McGonagall stood behind her desk, arms crossed over her chest.

"What is it, Miss Lovegood?"

Luna leaned forwards. "I have an idea."

McGonagall didn't look impressed. "Indeed?" she said, eyebrows raised.

"It concerns what you said yesterday, Professor," Luna continued.

As her teacher didn't react, she explained further. "What you said about improving relations between students of different Houses."

McGonagall nodded and looked mildly interested. "Explain it to me, please."

"All right, I think it is best to start at the beginning," Luna said. "I never really felt comfortable in my House because most people there are too much into books for my taste. I always felt like a Gryffindor, especially after I became friends with some of them last year. Professor Dumbledore said in his speech, 'Of course, I understand no one is going to get new friends in all the other Houses immediately and leave old friends behind.' That made me think- why shouldn't we do exactly that? What stops us doing it?

"The answer is: no one has ever tried it, because our prejudices against other Houses make us sort these people into categories without even knowing them, simply because of their House placement.

"I see the situation here at Hogwarts like a river- half of the people are already drowned in their prejudices and rash opinions and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction. This is where my plan comes in."

Now McGonagall definitely looked interested. She sat down and took a tartan tin out of one of the drawers in her desk.

"Would you like a biscuit, Miss Lovegood?" she asked Luna.

Luna stared at her once more. That was the reaction she had expected least. She could have accepted laughter or eyebrows raised in disbelief, even being thrown out; but a biscuit? She wondered whether all the professors at Hogwarts were weird in their respective ways.

"Miss Lovegood," McGonagall's voice came with a hint of irritation to it, "would you like a biscuit or not? It'd be nice to get an answer to my question."

Luna shrugged, took one and started eating. The biscuit was surprisingly delicious and she grabbed for another one.

Her Transfiguration teacher watched her for a moment. Then, she said, "I have to say I am deeply surprised to see your attitude towards these inter-House prejudices. I also have to admit that I am glad to hear it, because I think you're in the minority with your opinion about Houses and the respective students."

When she noticed Luna move to take another biscuit, she tutted disapprovingly and shot Luna one of her famous strict looks. Luna jerked her hand back.

"However," McGonagall said pointedly, "before I know your 'plan', I can't judge whether or not it is good and fitting for our situation here at Hogwarts. Now, if you would please continue..."

"Of course," Luna said, staring up at her once more, her eyes wide. "By the way, these biscuits are excellent," she added in her dreamy voice. McGonagall looked pleased and suddenly a lot friendlier.

"All right," Luna continued. "Actually, my plan is really, really simple. The only thing we have to do is to organize..."

When Luna had told her everything, the Deputy Headmistress murmured something, but Luna didn't understand it.

"What do you think?" she asked eagerly.

"I can't say any more on the subject before I have discussed this with the Headmaster," McGonagall replied, suddenly very strict again. "Thank you very much for sharing your idea, Miss Lovegood."

She stood up and went to the door. Luna wondered what she was doing and kept sitting, waiting for what would happen next.

"Good day, Miss Lovegood," McGonagall said, gesturing her out of the now open door. Luna thought that it was not a very polite way of telling her she was to leave the office, but slowly shuffled out nevertheless.

"Good day, Professor," she said when she was out in the corridor. McGonagall nodded in acknowledgement, then closed her door.

Two days passed and nothing happened. Luna was not surprised to learn that her plan would not come into force immediately; after all, the staff had to discuss the matter and choose fitting students. However, she couldn't quite suppress a feeling of slight unease that filled her. Not that she had any doubts about her plan- she knew it was perfect. However, she couldn't wait to see what would happen with it and whether the staff would actually carry it or just decide it was nonsense and not manageable. She was surprised about herself, because she normally wasn't curious or eager when important events approached, but was as calm as always.

Then again, she had never made a suggestion like this, ever; not to anybody, especially not her Headmaster and all her professors. She had never let someone else see her thoughts and emotions about a topic she was interested in. But now she had opened herself and had shown them her private thoughts on House unity.

Eventually, when she thought she couldn't stand any more waiting and suspense and unease, it happened.

After dinner, Dumbledore stood up and looked like he wanted to say something. Luna stared up at him with huge eyes, a queasy feeling spreading in her stomach. She wanted him to look at her, to confirm to her he was going to say what she thought he was going to say. However, he didn't look at her but at his fingers, which for some reason, seemed to be very interesting to him.

Maybe he had dirt under his fingernails, Luna thought. She knew that it felt terrible and she couldn't stop staring at it all the time, either. That was one of the reasons why Herbology wasn't one of her favourite subjects.

Suddenly he looked up and directly at her. He gave her a bright smile and winked. Luna breathed out. She hadn't even realised she had been holding her breath.

"... something to tell you," she heard Dumbledore's voice.

_Oh no_, she had missed the beginning of his speech. She concentrated on the Headmaster and forbade her thoughts to wander off again.

"I am sure most of you will remember what Professor McGonagall and I said at the beginning of this school year. For those of you who have a bad long-term memory, I'll sum it up again: we are determined to improve inter-House relations and we want to change your attitudes towards each other. We want you to try to understand each other better and not just put people into categories because of their Houses."

He looked down at his students and smiled a little, giving them time to let that sink in. Luna could feel fervour in the air around her. The students were eager to learn what the Headmaster wanted to tell them.

"Now our aims are clear, I am pleased to tell you that a student has contacted us with a most brilliant plan for which I, on behalf of the whole staff, thank this student wholeheartedly. But I don't want to keep you in suspense any longer, so I shall tell you what it is about : the basic principle is very simple. It's all about student exchanges."

A staccato of mutters swept through the Great Hall.

"However," Dumbledore continued in his calm voice, "no student is going to leave this school and no foreign students are going to attend Hogwarts, as this would be of no use in our struggle for House unity. The exchanges will take place between our four Houses.

That means that one student from each House will go to each other House. So each House will receive three exchange students, and send out three."

"This will last until the Christmas holidays. In the new term everything will revert to normal with everybody back in his or her own House. If everything works, we'll continue this experiment with different groups of students in the next term, as well.

"To give everyone a fair chance, we - that is to say, the staff - have decided to draw lots as to who is going to change House. To make it possible for everyone of you to see, the ceremony will take place in thirty minutes at the Quidditch pitch. Every one of you is invited to watch it, but you're not forced to do so."

He smiled a little, then sat down again, conjuring up a bowl of pudding. With a delighted expression, he started to eat, seemingly oblivious to the noise around him and the heated discussions that started throughout the Hall.

Some people went outside to the pitch immediately, trying to get the 'best seats'. Luna decided to go to her dormitory first and get her cloak. The sun was already setting, and she hated being cold.

When she arrived at the Quidditch pitch, the stands were already full of people. Luna slowly climbed up the stairs to the Ravenclaw stand and got herself a seat in one of the front rows, decidedly ignoring the sharp comments about her pushing to the front. After all, this was her plan - she had every right to know what was going on. And if she was to change House, she should be able to hear it.

Luna had barely settled down, when the teachers came marching onto the Quidditch pitch, led by the Headmaster. Even Professor Trelawney and Firenze had come out with the staff. Trelawney looked positively frozen, despite her warm, woollen cloak.

Every one of the professors held their wand in hand and carried something that looked like a huge bubble at the wand-tip. The bubbles the four Heads of Houses carried were coloured brightly in their respective colour. Snape's face looked even more ill than it usually did in the dark green light of his bubble. The orbs of the 'impartial' professors were an intense white that hurt in the eyes when you looked at it for too long.

A little behind the staff, Mr Filch came shuffling along, accompanied by his cat. Luna wondered briefly what he had to do with it, but maybe Dumbledore didn't want him to feel excluded.

The convoy stopped and Dumbledore stepped in front of the body. He was the only one who didn't carry a bubble, Luna suddenly noticed. Instead, a wonderful phoenix was sitting on his shoulder. It was a magnificent image. The sun was setting and blinding them all with its last bright rays. Against the light, the dark silhouettes of the professors and the bright bubbles looked like they'd been painted by an artist. Luna sighed happily; she loved magical ceremonies.

She saw Dumbledore say something and point his wand to his throat, and suddenly his voice boomed over the field, clearly audible.

"I am pleased that so many of you found their way to this ceremony and therefore demonstrate your interest in House unity."

Luna looked around and found that Dumbledore was right; even Slytherin House was nearly complete. Still, most of them wore faces that were obviously meant to show indifference and superiority. Luna found it funny how they all pretended to have walked in there by accident.

"Let me explain the rules for you," the Headmaster continued. "We decided to exclude two groups of students. For one, the first years, who will have to get used to Hogwarts and life at our school in their first term and thus are unsuitable to our exchange. The other group are the seventh years, who will have to study long and hard to achieve top marks on their NEWTs. I hope both groups respect this decision and aren't disappointed that they aren't included in this unique event.

"I hope that all issues are settled now. Now, let it begin." With these words, he raised his arms and four huge pots appeared out of nowhere. There was a collective gasp from the stands at this spectacle.

"Fawkes will prove for us whether everything is all right and every student's name is in these vessels." He gave the phoenix on his shoulder a small nod and the bird fluttered to the pots that were hovering in mid air. He landed on the rim of the first pan and bent his head over it. It looked like he was listening to something inside it, although there was complete silence throughout the stadium. After a while, he fluttered to the next one and the first vessel started to glow red. There was a quiet "Oooh..." from some girls near Luna.

Fawkes listened to every one of the pots and they all started to gleam - one in red, one in yellow, one in blue and one in green, symbolising the four Houses.

"Thank you, Fawkes," Dumbledore said as the phoenix headed for his shoulder again. "It seems that everything is all right," he continued and then half-turned towards the silent line of teachers behind them. None of them had moved at all, they just stood there stock-still, holding the bubbles over their wands. Mr Filch, at the very end of the line, looked a little lost, because he was in complete silence. He didn't carry a wand with an orb. Luna wondered again why he was there.

At that moment, Dumbledore announced, "And now, I ask you to applaud for Mr Filch, who will be drawing the lots from our four marvellous vessels."

With a sour face, Mr Filch slowly walked towards Dumbledore, who seemed to be enjoying himself like he hadn't for ages. "To make sure Mr Filch doesn't cheat - not that he would, of course - I'll have to bandage his eyes." He made a flourish movement with his hand and suddenly, he was holding a turquoise bandage. He showed it to everyone and then turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Professor," he said, "would you be so kind as to show the students that, wearing this, Mr Filch will have no opportunity to see anything?"

McGonagall took the bandage in her hands and proved it by holding it up against the light, so all the students could see it was solid. With a serious face, she gave it back to the Headmaster and nodded. "Solid velvet," he announced and looked proud. "From Norway; very fine material."

Then, finally, he tied it around Filch's head and then suddenly whipped out his wand, pointing it at his face. Filch didn't even jerk, and Dumbledore seemed content.

The Headmaster steered the Caretaker towards the first, red pot. "Please be so kind and draw the first three lots, Argus," he said and his blue eyes twinkled with joy.

Filch rummaged around in the pot a little and then drew out three small pieces of parchment, who glowed red and looked like embers from the distance. "Thank you," Dumbledore said and unrolled them.

"I shall announce the first students to change House," he said. There was complete silence - one could have easily heard a pin drop. Everybody seemed to be holding their breath.

Luna wondered whether they would pick her to change House. She desperately hoped so. In fact, she was even kind of disappointed that they had decided to draw lots. She would have found it much more fair if it had been for certain that she would be one of the 'Exchange' students.

After all, it had been her plan. It would be terrible to have to stay in her own House. Ravenclaw was very boring and she really wanted to be out of reach of her dorm mates for a while. She would love to be in Gryffindor; it seemed so different! More importantly, there were people she liked: Ginny, Harry, Ron, Neville... it would be wonderful to share a common room with them and be able to talk every evening.

Hufflepuff would still be all right. Most Hufflepuffs were really nice people and there was Tessa Dugan, a really nice girl from her year, who was in the Charms Club with her. So Hufflepuff wouldn't be that bad, either.

And Slytherin... well, Slytherin was Slytherin. She didn't really want to go there and prayed that, should she change House, it wouldn't be Slytherin.

She had never had much contact with Slytherins: they were withdrawn from the others and liked to keep to themselves, which was a pity, actually.

She knew she was being hypocritical, because it wasn't fair to simply categorise all Slytherins as future Death Eaters. There had to be nice people in Slytherin, as well. After all, they were Sorted there because they were ambitious, not because they were evil.

She still didn't want to go there, though. Nobody seemed to really like them and Luna thought that there had to be reasons for that, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to know them.

Dumbledore lengthened the silence a bit more to intensify the suspense, it seemed. Finally, he cleared his throat and began to speak again. "From Gryffindor House, Mr Colin Creevey will go to Hufflepuff, Miss Natalie MacDonald will go to Ravenclaw and Mr Neville Longbottom will go to Slytherin."

Applause rang out around the stands and Luna wondered why the name 'Natalie MacDonald' sounded familiar. Luna tried desperately to remember it, but somehow the thought kept slipping away from her. Sighing, she gave up. Maybe she'd remember later. There were a few jeers from the Slytherins at the mention of Neville's name - Luna supposed they were looking forward to teasing him.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had manoeuvred Filch to the next pot, glowing green. Again, he handed the Headmaster three pieces of parchment.

"From Slytherin House," Dumbledore declared, "Mr Jeremy Stamp will go to Gryffindor, Miss Estella James will go to Ravenclaw and Mr Draco Malfoy will go to Hufflepuff."

Luna thought she had heard a slight smile in the headmaster's voice, but she wasn't sure about it.

Somebody over at the Gryffindor table laughed loudly. A lot of people were looking over to the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy sat and was, if that was possible, even paler than usual. He had a look of terrible fury on his face.

"I'm going to tell my fa-" he said loudly and stopped mid sentence. Luna wondered why, but then she remembered a man that had looked rather like Draco Malfoy in the Department of Mysteries. If that had been his father, he was probably in prison now.

So, that cleared up why he wasn't going to tell his father. For his threat he earned even more laughter from the Gryffindor table. His cheeks got some colour again and he shot lethal glares in their direction.

"The next House is Hufflepuff," Dumbledore, who had performed the usual ceremony with Filch in the meantime, stated over the noise, and slowly the laughter faded. "From Hufflepuff House, Miss Rose Zeller will go to Ravenclaw, Miss Eleanor Branstone will go to Gryffindor and Mr Zacharias Smith will go to Slytherin."

A smattering of polite applause sounded for a few moments. Luna wasn't too interested in either of them. She dimly remembered Rose Zeller to be one of the girls that had a lot of pretty pink hair ribbons but no brains.

Filch drew the last lots from the remaining blue pot and Dumbledore looked at them. "Last but not least," he said, "from Ravenclaw House, Mr Seth Cavalier will go to Ravenclaw, Miss Amy Pickering will go to Gryffindor and Miss Luna Lovegood will go to Slytherin."

A young girl who sat close to Luna stared up at the High Table in disbelief. Then she threw her arms around a girl next to her and started crying.

_Oops_, Luna thought. Amy obviously wasn't too pleased with her situation. However, it couldn't be changed now and she was sure the second year would settle down in Gryffindor after a while and make new friends there.

Only then, she realised what the last name had been. Luna sat there in shock. Slytherin. A few people were pointing and laughing at her, but she barely noticed them. So it had happened. She would be in Slytherin for the next three months.

Jonas, a boy in her year who was sitting next to her, nudged her in the ribs. "Hey, Luna, Slytherin. What d'you think? Won't be too bad, I suppose, or will it?" He gave her a sympathetic grin, and Luna was surprised. Jonas had rarely talked to her before. Still, it felt good to have an understanding person next to her.

Luna shrugged. She wasn't quite sure yet how this news felt. At the moment, it was a rather neutral feeling. Of course, it wasn't Gryffindor, but on the other hand, at least Neville was there, too, and she would have at least one familiar face there.

Luna decided Slytherin surely couldn't be as bad as the rumours claimed.

Suddenly a boy shouted, "What about Quidditch?" A lot of other voices started to murmur, as well, sounding outraged.

Dumbledore silenced them by raising his hands. They all looked at him expectantly. "I assure you all that we are thinking of how to address this problem, and will inform you of our decision as soon as it is made."

There was a cacophonous chorus of angry voices, filled with outrage. Luna wondered why. Certainly, Quidditch was kind of nice to watch, but that was all. She could easily live without it. What was their problem?

They all went back to school slowly, gossiping about the exchanges and the effect they would have on the everyday life of the school. McGonagall was waiting near the doors and gestured all the exchanges into a small room that lay next to the Great Hall. It was more like a chamber, actually, but it had a fireplace and was warm and cosy. With all the students and the professor in there it was quite cramped, but Luna did her best to make herself comfortable near the fireplace. She liked it warm and her hands were icy, too, so a place next to the fire seemed to be the best solution.

"Please listen carefully because I do not wish to repeat myself," McGonagall started, wearing her severity just as she wore her glasses. "Every one of you has one hour and thirty minutes exactly to pack your things and say goodbye to your friends."

When Amy, the Ravenclaw Luna had noticed before, started crying again, McGonagall shot her one of her famous strict looks and the girl gulped and stopped sobbing.

"I am sure," their professor continued, still looking at Amy, "that this time is enough to say goodbye to _all_ of your friends. After all, they are not gone forever, they are here in this school and you can see them in your free time if you wish to. Now we have cleared that up, please allow me to continue with the future events that await you."

Luna's hands were really warm by now and she felt a bit dizzy. At the far end of the room she saw Neville, who was standing next to a blond boy who was talking very fast and very quietly. Neville seemed desperate and obviously tried to listen to McGonagall's words, but the younger boy did not stop talking. Slowly Luna walked over to him, carefully trying to avoid bumping into any of the other students, all of whom were turned towards the door, where McGonagall was standing and still speaking.

"Prefects from your host Houses will be waiting for you in the Entrance Hall. They are going to be your mentors for the next three months and they will lead you to your new common rooms and show you your dormitories and washrooms. Should you have any questions concerning the exchange, your hostHouse or anything related to these topics, please feel free to ask them; they will be glad to help you."

Meanwhile, Luna had reached Neville and the other boy and smiled at Neville.

"Hello," she said and smiled.

Neville looked relieved and smiled back at her.

"Sorry, could you please leave us alone for a moment?" Luna said to the blond boy and looked at him expectantly.

"S- Sure," the boy said and went away with a disappointed expression.

"Thanks," Neville muttered.

They both grinned and Luna had time to look at him a bit closer. Although they had gone through the Department of Mysteries together, they still felt rather like strangers.

He had nice eyes, she thought. Very warm, although there was something beneath that she couldn't quite identify. Slowly, they changed into a pair of bright blue eyes under a bunch of red hair. She shook her head, not quite believing what she had just witnessed, and the image vanished.

"...main purpose of this exchange is that you get to know each other a bit better," McGonagall's voice penetrated her thoughts.

_Oh, not **again**_, she thought. Why did her attention keep lapsing? Now she had missed something again. That was the second time in one evening. She scolded herself silently and resolved to pay closer attention.

"If it doesn't happen voluntarily, we will have to help you, which is exactly what is happening at the moment: we are helping you to make new acquaintances and stop thinking in black and white; we want you to be able to look at people not only on the surface, but to become curious as to what is lying beneath, leaving aside their House.

"We will, of course, be observing your behaviour and will also contact the prefects in your new Houses and maybe even some of your new room-mates to learn about your attitude towards the others. You are acting as ambassadors, representing each of your Houses, and we expect you all to act in ways befitting such a position. If you are found to be lacking, the Headmaster and I will be extremely disappointed in you. Be warned that we will take action to rectify this as needed."

She gave a wry smile and looked to one corner of the room. A lot of heads turned, too, and Luna couldn't suppress her curiosity either. There, hidden in the shadows, was Draco Malfoy, his pale face and light blond hair clearly visible in the dark. His face, bearing its usual smirk, seemed like a mask to Luna. His whole body language showed indifference to what happened in this room, arms crossed over his chest and one foot leaning against the wall casually.

However, Luna thought, he looked surprisingly small and weak without his two gorilla friends standing either side of him.

"Any questions?" McGonagall asked the room. A few shook their heads and murmured something, so she nodded and told them they were free to go and pack their things.

Luna waved at Neville and went out of the room with the others.

Slowly, she walked towards Ravenclaw Tower without really thinking about where she was going. She still felt warm inside from the fire that she had stood next to, but it was slowly beginning to wear off.

Outside, the days were still warm and sunny. After all, it was only the beginning of September. But here, inside the castle, it was cold. Luna shivered. One could think it was December and not September, but of course the thick walls were to blame - they held the high temperatures off.

Luna tried to remember where the Slytherins lived. Wasn't it some kind of dungeon? She shivered again, in expectation of the cold down there, where she would have to live for three months.

_Don't complain_, she told herself and noted a slightly angry tone in her inner voice. After all, she had been the one who had come up with the plan. Of course, she hadn't thought of things like the temperature in the different common rooms. Especially because she hadn't even considered ending up in Slytherin.

_I should have, _she thought. _Because now look where it led._ She sighed. Probably the best thing to do would be to write to her father and ask him to send her some more jumpers and long underwear.

When she reached the oak door, it was grumbling again and bleated at some younger Ravenclaws who were standing in front of it without any seeming ambition to get in. One spotted Luna and hopped up and down excitedly.

His blond hair hopped up and down with him. It looked quite weird and Luna couldn't help but stare at it for a moment.

"Pardon?" she said and looked at him as she realised he had asked her something, silently berating herself for another lapse in attention.

"Do you know the password?" he repeated, still looking excited, his little face turned up to her expectantly.

"It's bookworm," Luna told the small boy, who couldn't be older than eleven.

"Oh, thank you," he said and smiled. "You are really nice!" He turned back to the rest of the group. "The password is 'Bookworm'," he announced and beamed. Then he marched towards the door, straightened up and shouted at the door.

"**Bookworm!**"

The door swung open and grumbled, "I'm not deaf, idiot boy. Just because I'm made of wood doesn't mean I don't have ears! Now go on, or do you think I don't have anything better to do than to hang open here?"

For a moment the boy looked like he was about to answer, but then he lowered his head and gestured his friends to follow him, his shoulders drooping.

Luna felt sorry for the boy. It was his first week at Hogwarts and the door was as unfriendly as ever, without showing the slightest bit of consideration for his feelings. He probably didn't feel very at home in Ravenclaw at the moment. Poor boy.

"Hello, Miss, do you want to get in or not?" the door barked suddenly. "Because it's not very comfortable like this, you know?"

"Do you think what you did to the poor boy was right?" she asked back, ignoring the door's demand. "It's only his first week here at Hogwarts and already you make him feel like he's not wanted here. That's not very nice, you know."

"Why should I care about him?" the door grumbled. "He doesn't care about me, does he?"

"He probably would, were you not so frosty," Luna shot back. "But if you continue to behave like that towards students, I'm not surprised nobody in Ravenclaw likes you." With that she threw her hair back over her shoulder and marched into the common room, the door closing itself behind her with a loud thud.

The common room was wonderfully warm in contrast to the icy cold corridor. She sighed gratefully and felt the warmth infusing every part of her and smoothing away her goose-pimples. She gave a happy shiver.

In one corner she could see the blond boy sitting dejectedly in an armchair. She smiled at him and waved, and a small smile crossed his face.

She turned left and walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitories and counted them, as she always did. This was one of her habits; she had been doing it ever since her first day at Hogwarts. By now, she knew the number of steps by heart, but she still did it because she had gotten so used to it. She felt slightly sad, realising that this would be something that she would miss while she was away.

_39, 40, 41, 42, _she counted and then she was there. _42 is the answer to all your questions_, she thought and smiled as she remembered, as every time, the article of some weirdo in _The Quibbler_ a few years ago.

Opposite her, there was yet another oak door, but at least this one couldn't talk. Or, if it could, it never did, for which Luna was profoundly grateful. She pushed down the door handle and stepped in.

All of her dorm-mates were sitting on one bed in a close circle. They all stopped talking the moment she walked in, so Luna was quite certain they had been talking about her, most likely for the entire time she hadn't been there. One of them whispered something to her neighbour and they both started to giggle.

Luna didn't care. She kept telling herself that. _I don't care. I don't care_. It was like some sort of mantra, and it helped her. They could have continued to gossip about her and it wouldn't have disturbed her. She stopped for a moment and waited for them to continue. But they didn't, so Luna shrugged.

"Hi," she said in the direction of the crowded bed and, when no answer came, went over to her own bed and gave Merlin a quick kiss on the forehead.

"It's time to go, Merlin," she told him in a quiet voice. "We're moving. It's going to be quite cold for the next three months, but I'll always put you under the quilt so you'll stay cosy and warm, all right?"

He didn't answer, but she still thought he accepted her offer.

With one foot, she pulled her trunk next to the bed and kicked it open, humming cheerfully. Now the first shock had worn off, she kind of looked forward to joining Slytherin. It was going to be something new; something different; an adventure. She'd be getting away from her dorm-mates; these shallow girls who were always eating Chocolate Frogs and gossiping too much.

On the other hand, of course - this was _Slytherin_. Although she didn't believe the prejudices and all the gossip about how all Slytherins were evil and most of them were Death Eaters and all these things, some of it had still managed to settle down in her mind. Which was inevitable, she reasoned, if you heard it every day, conscious or not. After a while, some of it is always going to stick.

This left Luna with a bit of an uneasy feeling in her stomach when she thought about the next three months. What if they really were the way everybody portrayed them? What if they were going to bully and hex and injure her? What if mobbing was in fashion there?

It was different here in Ravenclaw. Of course they were mobbing her here, too. Or they would, if she actually cared anymore. But that was exactly the problem. Ravenclaws were always psychological with their insults and gossiping; they never really showed it openly. And, most important, they never used physical violence.

What if Slytherins didn't care about being psychological? What if they liked physical violence?

_Stop that,_ she told herself sternly and forbade any other dark thoughts. And after all, she still had Neville; he would surely help her. And the boy from Hufflepuff whose name she had forgotten. Surely he'd help her, too?

_Of course, Lovegood. Now, shut up and start packing._

Finally, all her things were packed neatly inside the trunk. She hated disorder and mess; therefore her jumpers lay folded edge on edge, as well as her trousers, skirts and underwear. She went to the door to collect her shoes and her cloak and felt the stares of the other girls on her back. When she returned, she heard Carmella singing quietly: "Loony loony Lovegood, she's a weirdo, loony loony Lovegood..."

Audrey looked up and for a moment Luna thought she had seen sympathy in her eyes. "Carmella," she said. "You're so good at potions, and I didn't understand a word of what Snape was telling us today about the Draught of Peace and now I'm completely lost. 'The properties of moonstone and its uses in potions-making'? Could you help me with that?"

"Of course," Carmella replied, stretching her long limbs and getting off the bed, too. "Agatha," she added in a demanding tone. "You come with us, you screwed up your potion too." She grabbed for her bag and threw it over her shoulder, motioning her head in direction of the door as if to show Agatha where she had to go.

As Luna walked past her, Carmella stopped her. "Bye, Lovegood," she said in a nasty tone and smirked. "Have _fun_ in Slytherin. I heard there are some very friendly people there." She snarled and opened the door, which creaked loudly.

"Pandora, Bianca," she addressed the two girls remaining on the bed. "You coming, too? We don't want to _disturb_ Loony in her packing, do we?"

They giggled and grabbed their schoolbags too, leaving through the door, but not without shooting Luna looks of curiosity mingled with dislike. Luna went back to her trunk and placed her boots on top of all of her other things. The footsteps of the other girls became quieter and quieter and soon she couldn't hear them anymore at all. Luna breathed out loud.

_Finally. _

Suddenly, she heard someone clear their throat apprehensively behind her. Luna started and turned around. Audrey still stood in the doorway and looked at her uncertainly. She looked to the floor and held her book and her quill pressed tightly against her chest like an anchor.

"I... erm... just wanted to say goodbye," she said and looked up, throwing Luna a timid smile. "And good luck in Slytherin."

Luna felt a smile spreading on her face. "Thanks, Audrey," she said. "That's really nice."

The other girl smiled, turned around and closed the door behind her.

Still smiling, Luna turned back to her trunk and put her folded cloak next to the boots. Then she looked at her bedside table. There they were; her most valued possessions: three small photos in golden frames.

She took the first one and looked at it. Her mother smiled up at her, a small blonde girl sitting on her hip. The woman waved with her free hand and kissed the small girl on the forehead. Luna opened the drawer of the bedside table and took out a piece of material. Carefully she wrapped the photo in it and laid it on top of her cloak.

The next photo. It was her parents' wedding. They were smiling and waving, and around them were all their friends and relatives. Professor Flitwick was standing in the first row, too, looking up at the happy couple. Luna wrapped it, too, and laid it next to the first one.

The last photo showed the three of them, her father, her mother and herself, at home. Sultan, their cat, was lying on his red pillow next to the small Luna. It was the last photo that showed them together - only a few weeks later, her mother had died. Luna sighed and studied the people in the photo a bit longer. She smiled sadly and wrapped it into material like the others.

She closed her trunk and jammed Merlin The Teddy under her right arm. With her free hand, she pulled the heavy trunk towards the door. She looked back once more, saw the bronze chandeliers gleaming in the dwindling sunlight and closed the door.

She smiled as made her way down the stairs.


	3. Luna 3

Luna woke up early the next morning, finding herself lying with her head at the bottom end of her bed. Her quilt was only covering her hips and belly: the rest of it lay on the ground. She sat up, yawned and stretched with a moan as she felt the tensed-up muscles in her shoulders. Then she looked out of the window and all thoughts of pain vanished as she saw the fading darkness of the night sky, the moon still faintly visible.

She had always loved the angle from which she could see over the Hogwarts grounds - she could see the roof of one of the greenhouses, the Forbidden Forest and the lake, in all its beauty. Morning mist was hovering over the lake's surface and wafting through the first rows of trees in the Forbidden Forest.

Slowly the sun began to rise over the mountains and sent its first rays of light through the mist, making it gleam. Only the smallest tendrils of orange light were wending their way over the horizon. Luna knelt on her bed, quilt clutched to her chest, paralysed in awe as she looked at this spectacle of nature.

Suddenly a loud snore from one of the beds made her jerk and come back to reality.

Luna shot one more longing look out of the window, then got out of bed. Merlin had fallen out during the night and was now staring up at her accusingly with his two dissimilar eyes. Luna felt a small tinge of guilt upon realizing that that had probably been her fault when she had turned around in her sleep. Carefully she picked him up again, placed him on her pillow and gave him a small kiss, lovingly making sure that he couldn't fall down again.

Quickly she opened her wardrobe. Due to her perfect order, she didn't have to search long to find her favourite underwear, which was red and had a lot of little golden Nifflers on it. It was one purposeful grab into the topmost drawer and she held it in hand. Pulling open the bottom drawer, she took out pairs of socks until she could see her lucky-charm knee-length socks. She wore them only on special occasions: that was why they were at the far back of the drawer. She admired their beautiful green and blue stripes, as she did every time before she wore them, and carefully put the other socks back.

Then Luna brought her lucky-charm socks to her face and inhaled deeply. It might have been her imagination, but she could still smell the faint smell of roses that had always surrounded her mother. Her mother had knitted them for her and had embroidered the two white _L_s upon each of them without magic. Throwing them away was out of the question. She would wear these socks whenever she needed luck and the help from her mother, until they'd be made of more holes than actual material. But it was still a long time to go before that happened, and today she would definitely need every ounce of help she could get, so she put them on.

From her bedside table, she took her Butterbeer-cork necklace, tying it carefully around her neck, and her old pocket watch with the two small brooms as hands that showed her that at the moment it wasn't even six o'clock yet. She slipped it into her pocket, and quietly made her way towards the door.

Standing next to the door, with the handle in her hand, she looked around her dormitory. It was definitely amazing how dirty it was. After all, they had been in there for only a few hours, and yet the floor was covered with magazines, clothes, Chocolate Frog wrappers and photos lying scattered all throughout the room. And that was only what she could see in the dim light coming through the window.

Her bed at the far wall was like some stranger in this room, because the floor around it actually was as clean as it had been when she had arrived. Not even her old socks from yesterday were still lying on the floor, because she just couldn't stand waking up in the morning and being greeted by dirty underwear from the day before. Luna shuddered at the thought.

Next to the door, there was a chaotic heap of shoes in different sizes and colours. Her shoes were mixed into it, too, although she had placed them there neatly, standing in pairs the evening beforeObviously the others had had fun mixing them with their shoes.

Luna picked up a small, slim sandal the colour of the sky on a sunny morning in the summer and turned it slowly, admiringly taking in every detail of the shoe, then looked down at her own feet that were not quite as small and slim as the ones that might fit into it. With a small sigh, she grabbed her left boot, which was made of stag leather and was solid, to be true, but by no means as beautiful as the light sandal.

The other boot, however, couldn't be found anywhere in or near the heap. After a few minutes of searching, it became quite clear to her that the others had hidden it. She rolled her eyes; it had never begun this early before, usually they started hiding her things only when a little time had gone by and everybody was acquainted with again. Shrugging slightly, she bent down to pick up one of her other shoes. However, it seemed the others had hidden all her right shoes. She sighed, exasperated. Then she took a blood red trainer she used to wear for flying lessons. She slipped into it, forgetting entirely to tie the laces, and looked down at herself.

The trainer sported a hole in the place where her big toe was, and the stripes of her socks showed through. Fascinated, Luna stared at her right foot for a moment and wiggled her toes, which looked kind of funny with the big toe in its striped dress.

Eventually, she tore her gaze away from the shoe and departed into the corridor. As soon as the door had closed behind her, all warmth disappeared and she shivered. Here it was much colder than in the dormitory, where the heat that ascended from six bodies kept the temperature warm and comfortable. In the corridor, there was only a long stretch of cold stone. Of course, there were candles along the wall in certain places, gleaming softly in their bronze candleholders, but they were not designed to spread warmth. One of them flickered as Luna went by at a quick pace, wanting to escape the coldness as soon as possible.

She noticed that the air was growing steadily warmer as she got closer to the common room, where a fire was roaring in the fireplace, giving off heat. When she opened the door that marked the entrance to the common room, the heat was like a solid wall she suddenly faced in contrast to the icy air in the corridor. She sighed and hurried over to the hearth, warming her hands. It was only then that she noticed the House Elf who was busy tending the fire.

"Good morning," Luna greeted the small creature with a friendly smile. The Elf started and looked round at her.

"Good morning, Miss," it said in a squeaky voice.

Luna smiled; she liked these friendly little creatures. Slowly, as she felt the heat from the fire spread through her body again, she strolled across the room towards the oak door and stopped to look at the notice board. There were already some notices pinned to it. One jumped out at her immediately, probably because it was written in bright pink ink. It said "Need extra tuition? Contact Hamish McNeil!"

Luna shook her head, slightly amused- she didn't know Hamish too well, but he always wrote in pink ink and also covered all of his school books in pinkish paper to keep them from getting dirty.

Suddenly, she realised she had forgotten something. She sighed and made her way back across the room, into the icy corridor and finally into her dormitory.

She went over to her bed, gave Merlin a small smile and pulled up the quilt so it covered his little body. Luna thought it was her responsibility to take care that he wasn't cold, so it was very important for her to make sure he had a warm bed to sleep in.

Luna drew her school robes out of the wardrobe and picked up her schoolbag. It weighed heavily on her shoulder with all the new schoolbooks in it. Luna noticed a small rip in the leather where they had poked their edges through the material. A Sugar Quill was peering out of the bag and Luna stuffed it back in, carefully making sure it didn't break.

She went back to the door, cautiously trying to avoid stepping on the things lying on the floor, especially the things Audrey had thrown out of her bag the evening before. Luna stopped to look at one of the books that lay scattered on the floor. _The Lord of the Rings_? That sounded funny, she thought. It was probably a muggle book, because she had never heard of it before.

She continued her way to the door and opened it. It creaked, probably because she had opened it too slowly, and one of the girls lifted her head slightly from her pillow and opened her eyes.

"Whassup?" she asked sleepily.

"It's alright, Audrey," Luna said quietly. "Get back to sleep."

Audrey grumbled quietly and fell asleep again. Luna went out.

By the time she got back into the common room, the Elf had vanished and the floor was clean. The door opened and Luna stepped out into yet another icy corridor. This time, however, it wasn't in Ravenclaw Tower, but in the main part of the school. Luna took a deep breath as she heard the door close behind her with a quiet click. Outside Ravenclaw Tower, Luna always felt better, although she couldn't say why. It was a feeling like a weight was lifted from her chest, making breathing easier.

She stared around aimlessly, thinking about her plan. There was nothing that could possibly make it better, at least in her opinion. It was perfect. Luna smiled, satisfied, and started walking, humming "Weasley is our King" under her breath, tapping the rhythm with her fingers on her school bag. She turned left and stepped into another dark corridor. It didn't look very inviting, but that didn't matter: she had a mission to accomplish, and a dark corridor surely wasn't going to stop her from doing so.

It was a long walk to Professor McGonagall's office, and Luna was slightly out of breath when she got there. She stopped to catch her breath before raising her hand to knock.

Then she hesitated. _Should I really tell McGonagall_? she thought.

What if her plan was nonsense and her professor wouldn't like it?

What if she wouldn't want to talk to her?

What if- _Stop that, Luna_, she scolded herself.

Why did this make her so nervous? Normally she wasn't shy and rarely pondered decisions for a long time, so why should she start now?

She knocked resolutely, then stepped back politely and waited for McGonagall to open the door.

She stood there for quite a while and stared around, looking at the portrait of a knight in shining armour who sat in a comfortable-looking chair and snored loudly. She wondered who he was, and found a small sign next to the picture that read _"Alpin the Angry9th- century Warrior and Healer" _Luna looked at him inquiringly, daring him to wake up. She wondered why he wore armour and not one of the Healer's green robes, but then she supposed he could have been a warrior for the muggles and would therefore have had to wear it.

He had taken off his helmet: it lay on the floor with a small cat sleeping inside it like a bird in a nest. Luna smiled. It looked too cute- the helmet was nearly twice as big as the cat.

One lock of the knight's long reddish-blond hair had fallen into his face and went up and down as he snored. Occasionally, he blinked unconsciously when the hair fell into his eyes. It was a fascinating spectacle and Luna had already forgotten her mission as she continued to watch him snore and his lock flying up and down, her arms clutched around her to save her from the cold.

A tartan carpet was hanging on the wall, the reds and greens difficult to tell apart in the dim light in the portrait. That stirred something in Luna's mind. She looked up and around, confused. Where was she? And why had she come here in the first place?

She noticed the door and remembered. She had wanted to tell McGonagall about her plan - how could she have forgotten?

She knocked again, a bit harder this time. Then she stepped back again and started waiting again.

Again, her Transfiguration teacher did not answer.

"Professor?" she called through the door five minutes later. "Professor McGonagall? Are you in there?"

Then she pressed her ear to the door. Why were professors never there when you needed them?

Eventually, she could hear footsteps inside and quickly went back a few steps again not to look too officious.

The door opened with a creak to reveal her Transfiguration teacher standing in front of her in a tartan dressing gown over a dark nightie. Her hair, normally pulled back in a strict bun, flowed around her shoulders, loose. Luna was surprised at how long it was; she supposed it was probably down to the middle of her back. It looked quite windswept and messy.

Luna couldn't help but stare - she had never seen her Deputy Headmistress in a state like that. It was completely unlike McGonagall's immensely strict nature.

"_Yes?_" McGonagall snapped irritably. "Miss Lovegood, is there _any_ reason for you to knock at my door like a maniac at the break of dawn? Explain yourself, and make it quick please, or I will have to take points from your House!"

"No," Luna said. "I mean, yes. I mean - don't take points from my House; and yes, there is a reason why I am here."

"And that would be?" McGonagall asked, pursing her lips.

"I have a problem-" Luna began, but the Transfiguration Professor interrupted her.

"If you have any problems, please talk to your Head of House. I'm sure Professor Flitwick will be glad to help you. Now, if you will excuse me-"

She made a half-hearted attempt at a friendly smile and pushed her spectacles back up her nose again.

"Good bye." With that, she made to close the door again, but Luna had her foot between door and doorframe.

"It's not the sort of problem I could talk about to Professor Flitwick," she said. "I can talk about it only to you, Professor. May I come in, please?"

Professor McGonagall looked at her for a moment, apparently thinking hard. Then she sighed, looking defeated, and opened the door.

"Kindly come in, Miss Lovegood. I don't suppose you want to discuss whatever it is you want to say here in the corridor. I don't particularly want that, either," she added witheringly, ushering Luna in with her hand and stepping aside to allow the girl access.

Luna smiled. She was relieved that McGonagall was quick on the uptake.

"No, I don't think that would be the appropriate place for a request such as the one I have." With these words, she stepped into the professor's office.

Luna waited for McGonagall to close the door behind her and step behind her desk. Meanwhile, she occupied herself with staring at the red-brown floral carpet that was unbelievably ugly - at least in her eyes - but somehow it fitted McGonagall nevertheless.

Finally, the Deputy Headmistress had closed the door.

"Take a seat, Miss Lovegood," she said and gestured towards the table and chairs that stood next to one of the windows.

"No, thank you, I prefer to remain standing," Luna replied politely.

McGonagall shot her an angry look and Luna corrected herself.

"Well, maybe I would prefer to sit..."

Professor McGonagall stood behind her desk, arms crossed over her chest.

"What is it, Miss Lovegood?"

Luna leaned forwards. "I have an idea."

McGonagall didn't look impressed. "Indeed?" she said, eyebrows raised.

"It concerns what you said yesterday, Professor," Luna continued.

As her teacher didn't react, she explained further. "What you said about improving relations between students of different Houses."

McGonagall nodded and looked mildly interested. "Explain it to me, please."

"All right, I think it is best to start at the beginning," Luna said. "I never really felt comfortable in my House because most people there are too much into books for my taste. I always felt like a Gryffindor, especially after I became friends with some of them last year. Professor Dumbledore said in his speech, 'Of course, I understand no one is going to get new friends in all the other Houses immediately and leave old friends behind.' That made me think- why shouldn't we do exactly that? What stops us doing it?

"The answer is: no one has ever tried it, because our prejudices against other Houses make us sort these people into categories without even knowing them, simply because of their House placement.

"I see the situation here at Hogwarts like a river- half of the people are already drowned in their prejudices and rash opinions and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction. This is where my plan comes in."

Now McGonagall definitely looked interested. She sat down and took a tartan tin out of one of the drawers in her desk.

"Would you like a biscuit, Miss Lovegood?" she asked Luna.

Luna stared at her once more. That was the reaction she had expected least. She could have accepted laughter or eyebrows raised in disbelief, even being thrown out; but a biscuit? She wondered whether all the professors at Hogwarts were weird in their respective ways.

"Miss Lovegood," McGonagall's voice came with a hint of irritation to it, "would you like a biscuit or not? It'd be nice to get an answer to my question."

Luna shrugged, took one and started eating. The biscuit was surprisingly delicious and she grabbed for another one.

Her Transfiguration teacher watched her for a moment. Then, she said, "I have to say I am deeply surprised to see your attitude towards these inter-House prejudices. I also have to admit that I am glad to hear it, because I think you're in the minority with your opinion about Houses and the respective students."

When she noticed Luna move to take another biscuit, she tutted disapprovingly and shot Luna one of her famous strict looks. Luna jerked her hand back.

"However," McGonagall said pointedly, "before I know your 'plan', I can't judge whether or not it is good and fitting for our situation here at Hogwarts. Now, if you would please continue..."

"Of course," Luna said, staring up at her once more, her eyes wide. "By the way, these biscuits are excellent," she added in her dreamy voice. McGonagall looked pleased and suddenly a lot friendlier.

"All right," Luna continued. "Actually, my plan is really, really simple. The only thing we have to do is to organize..."

When Luna had told her everything, the Deputy Headmistress murmured something, but Luna didn't understand it.

"What do you think?" she asked eagerly.

"I can't say any more on the subject before I have discussed this with the Headmaster," McGonagall replied, suddenly very strict again. "Thank you very much for sharing your idea, Miss Lovegood."

She stood up and went to the door. Luna wondered what she was doing and kept sitting, waiting for what would happen next.

"Good day, Miss Lovegood," McGonagall said, gesturing her out of the now open door. Luna thought that it was not a very polite way of telling her she was to leave the office, but slowly shuffled out nevertheless.

"Good day, Professor," she said when she was out in the corridor. McGonagall nodded in acknowledgement, then closed her door.

Two days passed and nothing happened. Luna was not surprised to learn that her plan would not come into force immediately; after all, the staff had to discuss the matter and choose fitting students. However, she couldn't quite suppress a feeling of slight unease that filled her. Not that she had any doubts about her plan- she knew it was perfect. However, she couldn't wait to see what would happen with it and whether the staff would actually carry it or just decide it was nonsense and not manageable. She was surprised about herself, because she normally wasn't curious or eager when important events approached, but was as calm as always.

Then again, she had never made a suggestion like this, ever; not to anybody, especially not her Headmaster and all her professors. She had never let someone else see her thoughts and emotions about a topic she was interested in. But now she had opened herself and had shown them her private thoughts on House unity.

Eventually, when she thought she couldn't stand any more waiting and suspense and unease, it happened.

After dinner, Dumbledore stood up and looked like he wanted to say something. Luna stared up at him with huge eyes, a queasy feeling spreading in her stomach. She wanted him to look at her, to confirm to her he was going to say what she thought he was going to say. However, he didn't look at her but at his fingers, which for some reason, seemed to be very interesting to him.

Maybe he had dirt under his fingernails, Luna thought. She knew that it felt terrible and she couldn't stop staring at it all the time, either. That was one of the reasons why Herbology wasn't one of her favourite subjects.

Suddenly he looked up and directly at her. He gave her a bright smile and winked. Luna breathed out. She hadn't even realised she had been holding her breath.

"... something to tell you," she heard Dumbledore's voice.

_Oh no_, she had missed the beginning of his speech. She concentrated on the Headmaster and forbade her thoughts to wander off again.

"I am sure most of you will remember what Professor McGonagall and I said at the beginning of this school year. For those of you who have a bad long-term memory, I'll sum it up again: we are determined to improve inter-House relations and we want to change your attitudes towards each other. We want you to try to understand each other better and not just put people into categories because of their Houses."

He looked down at his students and smiled a little, giving them time to let that sink in. Luna could feel fervour in the air around her. The students were eager to learn what the Headmaster wanted to tell them.

"Now our aims are clear, I am pleased to tell you that a student has contacted us with a most brilliant plan for which I, on behalf of the whole staff, thank this student wholeheartedly. But I don't want to keep you in suspense any longer, so I shall tell you what it is about : the basic principle is very simple. It's all about student exchanges."

A staccato of mutters swept through the Great Hall.

"However," Dumbledore continued in his calm voice, "no student is going to leave this school and no foreign students are going to attend Hogwarts, as this would be of no use in our struggle for House unity. The exchanges will take place between our four Houses.

That means that one student from each House will go to each other House. So each House will receive three exchange students, and send out three."

"This will last until the Christmas holidays. In the new term everything will revert to normal with everybody back in his or her own House. If everything works, we'll continue this experiment with different groups of students in the next term, as well.

"To give everyone a fair chance, we - that is to say, the staff - have decided to draw lots as to who is going to change House. To make it possible for everyone of you to see, the ceremony will take place in thirty minutes at the Quidditch pitch. Every one of you is invited to watch it, but you're not forced to do so."

He smiled a little, then sat down again, conjuring up a bowl of pudding. With a delighted expression, he started to eat, seemingly oblivious to the noise around him and the heated discussions that started throughout the Hall.

Some people went outside to the pitch immediately, trying to get the 'best seats'. Luna decided to go to her dormitory first and get her cloak. The sun was already setting, and she hated being cold.

When she arrived at the Quidditch pitch, the stands were already full of people. Luna slowly climbed up the stairs to the Ravenclaw stand and got herself a seat in one of the front rows, decidedly ignoring the sharp comments about her pushing to the front. After all, this was her plan - she had every right to know what was going on. And if she was to change House, she should be able to hear it.

Luna had barely settled down, when the teachers came marching onto the Quidditch pitch, led by the Headmaster. Even Professor Trelawney and Firenze had come out with the staff. Trelawney looked positively frozen, despite her warm, woollen cloak.

Every one of the professors held their wand in hand and carried something that looked like a huge bubble at the wand-tip. The bubbles the four Heads of Houses carried were coloured brightly in their respective colour. Snape's face looked even more ill than it usually did in the dark green light of his bubble. The orbs of the 'impartial' professors were an intense white that hurt in the eyes when you looked at it for too long.

A little behind the staff, Mr Filch came shuffling along, accompanied by his cat. Luna wondered briefly what he had to do with it, but maybe Dumbledore didn't want him to feel excluded.

The convoy stopped and Dumbledore stepped in front of the body. He was the only one who didn't carry a bubble, Luna suddenly noticed. Instead, a wonderful phoenix was sitting on his shoulder. It was a magnificent image. The sun was setting and blinding them all with its last bright rays. Against the light, the dark silhouettes of the professors and the bright bubbles looked like they'd been painted by an artist. Luna sighed happily; she loved magical ceremonies.

She saw Dumbledore say something and point his wand to his throat, and suddenly his voice boomed over the field, clearly audible.

"I am pleased that so many of you found their way to this ceremony and therefore demonstrate your interest in House unity."

Luna looked around and found that Dumbledore was right; even Slytherin House was nearly complete. Still, most of them wore faces that were obviously meant to show indifference and superiority. Luna found it funny how they all pretended to have walked in there by accident.

"Let me explain the rules for you," the Headmaster continued. "We decided to exclude two groups of students. For one, the first years, who will have to get used to Hogwarts and life at our school in their first term and thus are unsuitable to our exchange. The other group are the seventh years, who will have to study long and hard to achieve top marks on their NEWTs. I hope both groups respect this decision and aren't disappointed that they aren't included in this unique event.

"I hope that all issues are settled now. Now, let it begin." With these words, he raised his arms and four huge pots appeared out of nowhere. There was a collective gasp from the stands at this spectacle.

"Fawkes will prove for us whether everything is all right and every student's name is in these vessels." He gave the phoenix on his shoulder a small nod and the bird fluttered to the pots that were hovering in mid air. He landed on the rim of the first pan and bent his head over it. It looked like he was listening to something inside it, although there was complete silence throughout the stadium. After a while, he fluttered to the next one and the first vessel started to glow red. There was a quiet "Oooh..." from some girls near Luna.

Fawkes listened to every one of the pots and they all started to gleam - one in red, one in yellow, one in blue and one in green, symbolising the four Houses.

"Thank you, Fawkes," Dumbledore said as the phoenix headed for his shoulder again. "It seems that everything is all right," he continued and then half-turned towards the silent line of teachers behind them. None of them had moved at all, they just stood there stock-still, holding the bubbles over their wands. Mr Filch, at the very end of the line, looked a little lost, because he was in complete silence. He didn't carry a wand with an orb. Luna wondered again why he was there.

At that moment, Dumbledore announced, "And now, I ask you to applaud for Mr Filch, who will be drawing the lots from our four marvellous vessels."

With a sour face, Mr Filch slowly walked towards Dumbledore, who seemed to be enjoying himself like he hadn't for ages. "To make sure Mr Filch doesn't cheat - not that he would, of course - I'll have to bandage his eyes." He made a flourish movement with his hand and suddenly, he was holding a turquoise bandage. He showed it to everyone and then turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Professor," he said, "would you be so kind as to show the students that, wearing this, Mr Filch will have no opportunity to see anything?"

McGonagall took the bandage in her hands and proved it by holding it up against the light, so all the students could see it was solid. With a serious face, she gave it back to the Headmaster and nodded. "Solid velvet," he announced and looked proud. "From Norway; very fine material."

Then, finally, he tied it around Filch's head and then suddenly whipped out his wand, pointing it at his face. Filch didn't even jerk, and Dumbledore seemed content.

The Headmaster steered the Caretaker towards the first, red pot. "Please be so kind and draw the first three lots, Argus," he said and his blue eyes twinkled with joy.

Filch rummaged around in the pot a little and then drew out three small pieces of parchment, who glowed red and looked like embers from the distance. "Thank you," Dumbledore said and unrolled them.

"I shall announce the first students to change House," he said. There was complete silence - one could have easily heard a pin drop. Everybody seemed to be holding their breath.

Luna wondered whether they would pick her to change House. She desperately hoped so. In fact, she was even kind of disappointed that they had decided to draw lots. She would have found it much more fair if it had been for certain that she would be one of the 'Exchange' students.

After all, it had been her plan. It would be terrible to have to stay in her own House. Ravenclaw was very boring and she really wanted to be out of reach of her dorm mates for a while. She would love to be in Gryffindor; it seemed so different! More importantly, there were people she liked: Ginny, Harry, Ron, Neville... it would be wonderful to share a common room with them and be able to talk every evening.

Hufflepuff would still be all right. Most Hufflepuffs were really nice people and there was Tessa Dugan, a really nice girl from her year, who was in the Charms Club with her. So Hufflepuff wouldn't be that bad, either.

And Slytherin... well, Slytherin was Slytherin. She didn't really want to go there and prayed that, should she change House, it wouldn't be Slytherin.

She had never had much contact with Slytherins: they were withdrawn from the others and liked to keep to themselves, which was a pity, actually.

She knew she was being hypocritical, because it wasn't fair to simply categorise all Slytherins as future Death Eaters. There had to be nice people in Slytherin, as well. After all, they were Sorted there because they were ambitious, not because they were evil.

She still didn't want to go there, though. Nobody seemed to really like them and Luna thought that there had to be reasons for that, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to know them.

Dumbledore lengthened the silence a bit more to intensify the suspense, it seemed. Finally, he cleared his throat and began to speak again. "From Gryffindor House, Mr Colin Creevey will go to Hufflepuff, Miss Natalie MacDonald will go to Ravenclaw and Mr Neville Longbottom will go to Slytherin."

Applause rang out around the stands and Luna wondered why the name 'Natalie MacDonald' sounded familiar. Luna tried desperately to remember it, but somehow the thought kept slipping away from her. Sighing, she gave up. Maybe she'd remember later. There were a few jeers from the Slytherins at the mention of Neville's name - Luna supposed they were looking forward to teasing him.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had manoeuvred Filch to the next pot, glowing green. Again, he handed the Headmaster three pieces of parchment.

"From Slytherin House," Dumbledore declared, "Mr Jeremy Stamp will go to Gryffindor, Miss Estella James will go to Ravenclaw and Mr Draco Malfoy will go to Hufflepuff."

Luna thought she had heard a slight smile in the headmaster's voice, but she wasn't sure about it.

Somebody over at the Gryffindor table laughed loudly. A lot of people were looking over to the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy sat and was, if that was possible, even paler than usual. He had a look of terrible fury on his face.

"I'm going to tell my fa-" he said loudly and stopped mid sentence. Luna wondered why, but then she remembered a man that had looked rather like Draco Malfoy in the Department of Mysteries. If that had been his father, he was probably in prison now.

So, that cleared up why he wasn't going to tell his father. For his threat he earned even more laughter from the Gryffindor table. His cheeks got some colour again and he shot lethal glares in their direction.

"The next House is Hufflepuff," Dumbledore, who had performed the usual ceremony with Filch in the meantime, stated over the noise, and slowly the laughter faded. "From Hufflepuff House, Miss Rose Zeller will go to Ravenclaw, Miss Eleanor Branstone will go to Gryffindor and Mr Zacharias Smith will go to Slytherin."

A smattering of polite applause sounded for a few moments. Luna wasn't too interested in either of them. She dimly remembered Rose Zeller to be one of the girls that had a lot of pretty pink hair ribbons but no brains.

Filch drew the last lots from the remaining blue pot and Dumbledore looked at them. "Last but not least," he said, "from Ravenclaw House, Mr Seth Cavalier will go to Ravenclaw, Miss Amy Pickering will go to Gryffindor and Miss Luna Lovegood will go to Slytherin."

A young girl who sat close to Luna stared up at the High Table in disbelief. Then she threw her arms around a girl next to her and started crying.

_Oops_, Luna thought. Amy obviously wasn't too pleased with her situation. However, it couldn't be changed now and she was sure the second year would settle down in Gryffindor after a while and make new friends there.

Only then, she realised what the last name had been. Luna sat there in shock. Slytherin. A few people were pointing and laughing at her, but she barely noticed them. So it had happened. She would be in Slytherin for the next three months.

Jonas, a boy in her year who was sitting next to her, nudged her in the ribs. "Hey, Luna, Slytherin. What d'you think? Won't be too bad, I suppose, or will it?" He gave her a sympathetic grin, and Luna was surprised. Jonas had rarely talked to her before. Still, it felt good to have an understanding person next to her.

Luna shrugged. She wasn't quite sure yet how this news felt. At the moment, it was a rather neutral feeling. Of course, it wasn't Gryffindor, but on the other hand, at least Neville was there, too, and she would have at least one familiar face there.

Luna decided Slytherin surely couldn't be as bad as the rumours claimed.

Suddenly a boy shouted, "What about Quidditch?" A lot of other voices started to murmur, as well, sounding outraged.

Dumbledore silenced them by raising his hands. They all looked at him expectantly. "I assure you all that we are thinking of how to address this problem, and will inform you of our decision as soon as it is made."

There was a cacophonous chorus of angry voices, filled with outrage. Luna wondered why. Certainly, Quidditch was kind of nice to watch, but that was all. She could easily live without it. What was their problem?

They all went back to school slowly, gossiping about the exchanges and the effect they would have on the everyday life of the school. McGonagall was waiting near the doors and gestured all the exchanges into a small room that lay next to the Great Hall. It was more like a chamber, actually, but it had a fireplace and was warm and cosy. With all the students and the professor in there it was quite cramped, but Luna did her best to make herself comfortable near the fireplace. She liked it warm and her hands were icy, too, so a place next to the fire seemed to be the best solution.

"Please listen carefully because I do not wish to repeat myself," McGonagall started, wearing her severity just as she wore her glasses. "Every one of you has one hour and thirty minutes exactly to pack your things and say goodbye to your friends."

When Amy, the Ravenclaw Luna had noticed before, started crying again, McGonagall shot her one of her famous strict looks and the girl gulped and stopped sobbing.

"I am sure," their professor continued, still looking at Amy, "that this time is enough to say goodbye to _all_ of your friends. After all, they are not gone forever, they are here in this school and you can see them in your free time if you wish to. Now we have cleared that up, please allow me to continue with the future events that await you."

Luna's hands were really warm by now and she felt a bit dizzy. At the far end of the room she saw Neville, who was standing next to a blond boy who was talking very fast and very quietly. Neville seemed desperate and obviously tried to listen to McGonagall's words, but the younger boy did not stop talking. Slowly Luna walked over to him, carefully trying to avoid bumping into any of the other students, all of whom were turned towards the door, where McGonagall was standing and still speaking.

"Prefects from your host Houses will be waiting for you in the Entrance Hall. They are going to be your mentors for the next three months and they will lead you to your new common rooms and show you your dormitories and washrooms. Should you have any questions concerning the exchange, your hostHouse or anything related to these topics, please feel free to ask them; they will be glad to help you."

Meanwhile, Luna had reached Neville and the other boy and smiled at Neville.

"Hello," she said and smiled.

Neville looked relieved and smiled back at her.

"Sorry, could you please leave us alone for a moment?" Luna said to the blond boy and looked at him expectantly.

"S- Sure," the boy said and went away with a disappointed expression.

"Thanks," Neville muttered.

They both grinned and Luna had time to look at him a bit closer. Although they had gone through the Department of Mysteries together, they still felt rather like strangers.

He had nice eyes, she thought. Very warm, although there was something beneath that she couldn't quite identify. Slowly, they changed into a pair of bright blue eyes under a bunch of red hair. She shook her head, not quite believing what she had just witnessed, and the image vanished.

"...main purpose of this exchange is that you get to know each other a bit better," McGonagall's voice penetrated her thoughts.

_Oh, not **again**_, she thought. Why did her attention keep lapsing? Now she had missed something again. That was the second time in one evening. She scolded herself silently and resolved to pay closer attention.

"If it doesn't happen voluntarily, we will have to help you, which is exactly what is happening at the moment: we are helping you to make new acquaintances and stop thinking in black and white; we want you to be able to look at people not only on the surface, but to become curious as to what is lying beneath, leaving aside their House.

"We will, of course, be observing your behaviour and will also contact the prefects in your new Houses and maybe even some of your new room-mates to learn about your attitude towards the others. You are acting as ambassadors, representing each of your Houses, and we expect you all to act in ways befitting such a position. If you are found to be lacking, the Headmaster and I will be extremely disappointed in you. Be warned that we will take action to rectify this as needed."

She gave a wry smile and looked to one corner of the room. A lot of heads turned, too, and Luna couldn't suppress her curiosity either. There, hidden in the shadows, was Draco Malfoy, his pale face and light blond hair clearly visible in the dark. His face, bearing its usual smirk, seemed like a mask to Luna. His whole body language showed indifference to what happened in this room, arms crossed over his chest and one foot leaning against the wall casually.

However, Luna thought, he looked surprisingly small and weak without his two gorilla friends standing either side of him.

"Any questions?" McGonagall asked the room. A few shook their heads and murmured something, so she nodded and told them they were free to go and pack their things.

Luna waved at Neville and went out of the room with the others.

Slowly, she walked towards Ravenclaw Tower without really thinking about where she was going. She still felt warm inside from the fire that she had stood next to, but it was slowly beginning to wear off.

Outside, the days were still warm and sunny. After all, it was only the beginning of September. But here, inside the castle, it was cold. Luna shivered. One could think it was December and not September, but of course the thick walls were to blame - they held the high temperatures off.

Luna tried to remember where the Slytherins lived. Wasn't it some kind of dungeon? She shivered again, in expectation of the cold down there, where she would have to live for three months.

_Don't complain_, she told herself and noted a slightly angry tone in her inner voice. After all, she had been the one who had come up with the plan. Of course, she hadn't thought of things like the temperature in the different common rooms. Especially because she hadn't even considered ending up in Slytherin.

_I should have, _she thought. _Because now look where it led._ She sighed. Probably the best thing to do would be to write to her father and ask him to send her some more jumpers and long underwear.

When she reached the oak door, it was grumbling again and bleated at some younger Ravenclaws who were standing in front of it without any seeming ambition to get in. One spotted Luna and hopped up and down excitedly.

His blond hair hopped up and down with him. It looked quite weird and Luna couldn't help but stare at it for a moment.

"Pardon?" she said and looked at him as she realised he had asked her something, silently berating herself for another lapse in attention.

"Do you know the password?" he repeated, still looking excited, his little face turned up to her expectantly.

"It's bookworm," Luna told the small boy, who couldn't be older than eleven.

"Oh, thank you," he said and smiled. "You are really nice!" He turned back to the rest of the group. "The password is 'Bookworm'," he announced and beamed. Then he marched towards the door, straightened up and shouted at the door.

"**Bookworm!**"

The door swung open and grumbled, "I'm not deaf, idiot boy. Just because I'm made of wood doesn't mean I don't have ears! Now go on, or do you think I don't have anything better to do than to hang open here?"

For a moment the boy looked like he was about to answer, but then he lowered his head and gestured his friends to follow him, his shoulders drooping.

Luna felt sorry for the boy. It was his first week at Hogwarts and the door was as unfriendly as ever, without showing the slightest bit of consideration for his feelings. He probably didn't feel very at home in Ravenclaw at the moment. Poor boy.

"Hello, Miss, do you want to get in or not?" the door barked suddenly. "Because it's not very comfortable like this, you know?"

"Do you think what you did to the poor boy was right?" she asked back, ignoring the door's demand. "It's only his first week here at Hogwarts and already you make him feel like he's not wanted here. That's not very nice, you know."

"Why should I care about him?" the door grumbled. "He doesn't care about me, does he?"

"He probably would, were you not so frosty," Luna shot back. "But if you continue to behave like that towards students, I'm not surprised nobody in Ravenclaw likes you." With that she threw her hair back over her shoulder and marched into the common room, the door closing itself behind her with a loud thud.

The common room was wonderfully warm in contrast to the icy cold corridor. She sighed gratefully and felt the warmth infusing every part of her and smoothing away her goose-pimples. She gave a happy shiver.

In one corner she could see the blond boy sitting dejectedly in an armchair. She smiled at him and waved, and a small smile crossed his face.

She turned left and walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitories and counted them, as she always did. This was one of her habits; she had been doing it ever since her first day at Hogwarts. By now, she knew the number of steps by heart, but she still did it because she had gotten so used to it. She felt slightly sad, realising that this would be something that she would miss while she was away.

_39, 40, 41, 42, _she counted and then she was there. _42 is the answer to all your questions_, she thought and smiled as she remembered, as every time, the article of some weirdo in _The Quibbler_ a few years ago.

Opposite her, there was yet another oak door, but at least this one couldn't talk. Or, if it could, it never did, for which Luna was profoundly grateful. She pushed down the door handle and stepped in.

All of her dorm-mates were sitting on one bed in a close circle. They all stopped talking the moment she walked in, so Luna was quite certain they had been talking about her, most likely for the entire time she hadn't been there. One of them whispered something to her neighbour and they both started to giggle.

Luna didn't care. She kept telling herself that. _I don't care. I don't care_. It was like some sort of mantra, and it helped her. They could have continued to gossip about her and it wouldn't have disturbed her. She stopped for a moment and waited for them to continue. But they didn't, so Luna shrugged.

"Hi," she said in the direction of the crowded bed and, when no answer came, went over to her own bed and gave Merlin a quick kiss on the forehead.

"It's time to go, Merlin," she told him in a quiet voice. "We're moving. It's going to be quite cold for the next three months, but I'll always put you under the quilt so you'll stay cosy and warm, all right?"

He didn't answer, but she still thought he accepted her offer.

With one foot, she pulled her trunk next to the bed and kicked it open, humming cheerfully. Now the first shock had worn off, she kind of looked forward to joining Slytherin. It was going to be something new; something different; an adventure. She'd be getting away from her dorm-mates; these shallow girls who were always eating Chocolate Frogs and gossiping too much.

On the other hand, of course - this was _Slytherin_. Although she didn't believe the prejudices and all the gossip about how all Slytherins were evil and most of them were Death Eaters and all these things, some of it had still managed to settle down in her mind. Which was inevitable, she reasoned, if you heard it every day, conscious or not. After a while, some of it is always going to stick.

This left Luna with a bit of an uneasy feeling in her stomach when she thought about the next three months. What if they really were the way everybody portrayed them? What if they were going to bully and hex and injure her? What if mobbing was in fashion there?

It was different here in Ravenclaw. Of course they were mobbing her here, too. Or they would, if she actually cared anymore. But that was exactly the problem. Ravenclaws were always psychological with their insults and gossiping; they never really showed it openly. And, most important, they never used physical violence.

What if Slytherins didn't care about being psychological? What if they liked physical violence?

_Stop that,_ she told herself sternly and forbade any other dark thoughts. And after all, she still had Neville; he would surely help her. And the boy from Hufflepuff whose name she had forgotten. Surely he'd help her, too?

_Of course, Lovegood. Now, shut up and start packing._

Finally, all her things were packed neatly inside the trunk. She hated disorder and mess; therefore her jumpers lay folded edge on edge, as well as her trousers, skirts and underwear. She went to the door to collect her shoes and her cloak and felt the stares of the other girls on her back. When she returned, she heard Carmella singing quietly: "Loony loony Lovegood, she's a weirdo, loony loony Lovegood..."

Audrey looked up and for a moment Luna thought she had seen sympathy in her eyes. "Carmella," she said. "You're so good at potions, and I didn't understand a word of what Snape was telling us today about the Draught of Peace and now I'm completely lost. 'The properties of moonstone and its uses in potions-making'? Could you help me with that?"

"Of course," Carmella replied, stretching her long limbs and getting off the bed, too. "Agatha," she added in a demanding tone. "You come with us, you screwed up your potion too." She grabbed for her bag and threw it over her shoulder, motioning her head in direction of the door as if to show Agatha where she had to go.

As Luna walked past her, Carmella stopped her. "Bye, Lovegood," she said in a nasty tone and smirked. "Have _fun_ in Slytherin. I heard there are some very friendly people there." She snarled and opened the door, which creaked loudly.

"Pandora, Bianca," she addressed the two girls remaining on the bed. "You coming, too? We don't want to _disturb_ Loony in her packing, do we?"

They giggled and grabbed their schoolbags too, leaving through the door, but not without shooting Luna looks of curiosity mingled with dislike. Luna went back to her trunk and placed her boots on top of all of her other things. The footsteps of the other girls became quieter and quieter and soon she couldn't hear them anymore at all. Luna breathed out loud.

_Finally. _

Suddenly, she heard someone clear their throat apprehensively behind her. Luna started and turned around. Audrey still stood in the doorway and looked at her uncertainly. She looked to the floor and held her book and her quill pressed tightly against her chest like an anchor.

"I... erm... just wanted to say goodbye," she said and looked up, throwing Luna a timid smile. "And good luck in Slytherin."

Luna felt a smile spreading on her face. "Thanks, Audrey," she said. "That's really nice."

The other girl smiled, turned around and closed the door behind her.

Still smiling, Luna turned back to her trunk and put her folded cloak next to the boots. Then she looked at her bedside table. There they were; her most valued possessions: three small photos in golden frames.

She took the first one and looked at it. Her mother smiled up at her, a small blonde girl sitting on her hip. The woman waved with her free hand and kissed the small girl on the forehead. Luna opened the drawer of the bedside table and took out a piece of material. Carefully she wrapped the photo in it and laid it on top of her cloak.

The next photo. It was her parents' wedding. They were smiling and waving, and around them were all their friends and relatives. Professor Flitwick was standing in the first row, too, looking up at the happy couple. Luna wrapped it, too, and laid it next to the first one.

The last photo showed the three of them, her father, her mother and herself, at home. Sultan, their cat, was lying on his red pillow next to the small Luna. It was the last photo that showed them together - only a few weeks later, her mother had died. Luna sighed and studied the people in the photo a bit longer. She smiled sadly and wrapped it into material like the others.

She closed her trunk and jammed Merlin The Teddy under her right arm. With her free hand, she pulled the heavy trunk towards the door. She looked back once more, saw the bronze chandeliers gleaming in the dwindling sunlight and closed the door.

She smiled as made her way down the stairs.


	4. Luna 4

Luna entered the dormitory a few steps behind Elinor. Luna didn't have the chance to see any of it, because immediately girls surrounded the Slytherin prefect and her.

Luna knew their faces - they had a few classes together - but not their names, as the Slytherin girls always kept to themselves and hardly talked to people outside their House.

"Quiet!" Elinor shouted with a voice that sounded surprisingly loud for her rather small frame. On the other hand, Elinor had to be that loud, or her fellow Slytherins wouldn't have heard her: they were chattering excitedly.

The shout helped: the girls fell silent.

"This is Luna Lovegood," Elinor declared in a business-like voice. "She is your exchange for this term."

Luna looked at the girls, waiting for them to do something.

Eventually one with light brown hair stepped forward. "Hello, Luna," she said with a small smile. "My name is Rebecca Laurence. Welcome to Slytherin!" Now the others stepped forward, too, and Luna found herself trapped in a circle of girls.

"Miranda Pucey," the next one said and shook Luna's hand in a very formal way.

"Luna Lovegood," Luna said, in case Miranda expected her to say her name, too. She didn't want to look impolite.

"I'm Madeleine," said another girl, pushing Miranda to the side. She smiled a huge smile that enabled Luna to see the big, yellowish teeth that were her most prominent feature.

"Hello," Luna said, staring at her mouth, fascinated by the teeth. They made the girl - Madeleine? look like a rabbit. Then she tore her eyes away from the girl's now closed lips and looked at the last of her new dorm-mates.

"I'm Leila Sullivan," the girl said coolly and, after giving Luna a curt nod, she began to examine her fingernails with interest.

"You don't need me anymore," Elinor said from behind her, and it wasn't a question. It was an order.

"No," Luna said, because she knew her Host Prefect wouldn't have accepted another answer anyway. "Thank you."

"Whatever," the older girl said dismissively. "Don't forget what I told you," she added in a dangerously quiet voice, then turned on her heel and walked out.

Now Luna was alone.

"Come on, come on," Madeleine said in her shrill voice and pulled at her sleeve, "Don't stand around so stiff! Aren't you excited? You look like Miranda, she's always that serious and quiet and studying. I wouldn't want that!" She smiled her huge smile again and her yellow teeth were showing. She was obviously unaware of the effect they had on Luna, who couldn't help but stare at them.

"You don't have a bed yet," she continued, "because nobody from our dorm is an exchange. We'll have to add an extra one. They'll probably have to magically enlarge the room, because there isn't enough space. That gives me an idea - who's going to bring the bed?" She stopped for a moment to get some air.

Miranda quickly interjected, "Well, it's obviously not going to be Professor Snape, is it?"

Madeleine, who had just wanted to continue talking, stopped, her mouth open, and stared at her. "Why?"

"Because," Miranda said with the voice adults often use when talking to a child who is a bit retarded, "Snape is a _man_. And men aren't allowed to get into the girls' dormitories, fool."

"Calm down a bit, you two," Rebecca said quietly. "Luna has been here for only a minute and already you two are arguing again. Can't you stop it?"

The two shot each other glances that didn't look too friendly. Still, both quietly said "Sorry" and didn't look at each other anymore.

"Where is your trunk?" Rebecca asked Luna in her composed voice.

"I left it in the Entrance Hall," Luna said, trying to get her thoughts together. Her head was spinning from all the new impressions and names and she was a bit confused.

Rebecca looked at her, eyebrows raised in disbelief, and Luna added, "Elinor told us to do so. She said we'd get some House Elves to carry them for us later."

"Did she? I see..." Judging from her tone of voice, Rebecca disapproved of this way of handling things. She seemed to think for a moment, then she said, "It will be difficult to find a House Elf right now, so I suppose we'd better bring it here ourselves. Madeleine, Miranda, you two go and get it."

"It's the one with the teddy bear lying on top of it," Luna said in order to help them find the right trunk.

Madeleine grinned at the mention of Merlin, although Luna couldn't fathom why. Miranda's face was as expressionless as always. They both went out without a comment.

Luna was impressed. It seemed that Rebecca was some kind of leader for the girls and they all followed her orders without arguing. Luna had never experienced anything like that in Ravenclaw, neither with boys nor with girls, no matter what age. The inhabitants of Ravenclaw House generally kept to themselves without forming close-knit groups. Most of them seemed to like it that way, and Luna didn't mind it at all.

However, she hadn't expected the Slytherins to be fond of groups; she had always thought that was more a quality the Hufflepuffs favoured. Of course, the Ravenclaw fifth years had Prefects as well, but none of them had dreamed of following Carmella's or Castor's orders - had they ever given out any. This was completely new terrain for her.

"I'll go and inform Professor Snape that you're here, Luna, and tell him that we need another bed and wardrobe," Rebecca said. "Leila, is it all right for you if you stay here and show Luna everything?"

Leila nodded, and Rebecca walked out, too. "I'll be back soon," she said as she closed the door behind her.

Now that they all were gone, Luna had time to look around the room. It was as low as the common room, but the stone walls weren't as rough here. The greenish lamps were the only source of light and painted everything in the room green so that it reminded Luna of an underwater world.

The beds were standing in one long row along the wall, just as they did in Ravenclaw. Opposite each was a wardrobe next to which there lay several pairs of shoes. Luna quite liked that way of sorting shoes, especially when she thought back to the chaotic heap in her old dormitory.

That reminded her of something else, and she studied the floor. It was covered by a thick, dark-green carpet, and was wonderfully free of dirty socks, Chocolate Frog wrappers and _Witch Weekly_ magazines. Luna smiled with satisfaction.

Only one bed looked different, because around it the floor was untidy and old clothes and several rolls of parchment lay around. Without knowing why, Luna supposed that this bed belonged to Madeleine.

Leila, who had been watching her silently while she had studied the room, now got up from her bed, where she had been sitting. She put one hand on Luna's arm and with light pressure forced her to turn around.

For the first time Luna really saw her and noticed that Leila was extraordinarily pretty. With her bronzed skin and the dark hair she looked like some Spanish beauty. Leila noticed Luna was looking at her and smiled, her dark eyes twinkling.

Then she cleared her throat and began. "As you might have noticed, this is our dormitory. The first bed here is Miranda's, the next is Rebecca's, then mine, and the one with the mess around it is Madeleine's." _Ah_, Luna thought. _So I was right about that one._

"Come on, I'll show you the bathroom." With that she vanished out of the door with a swing of her hip. Luna slowly trotted behind.

A little way further down the corridor was another door Luna wouldn't have noticed if the Slytherin hadn't walked through it. Leila led her through the bathroom and showed her the showers and the lavatories. Luna couldn't really listen to her, she was too excited to be able to take in any of the things her new dorm-mate said. Slowly the realization started to sink in that this was going to be her home for the rest of the term - until Christmas. _That's an awfully long time_, Luna thought.

Her mind was buzzing and later on the only thing she remembered were the expensive-looking silver taps at the wash-basins.

"That's all for now, I think," Leila said as they went back out into corridor. Luna snapped out of her reverie. "Let's go back and wait for the others," Leila commanded and went ahead.

When the two of them walked back to the dormitory, they heard something - Madeleine's loud laughter resounded from farther up the corridor. Sure enough, a few moments later they could see Miranda's head, her two proper plaits swinging with her steps. She was walking backwards, holding Luna's trunk and looking busy making sure Merlin didn't fall to the floor. Behind her Madeleine came shuffling along, carrying the other end of Luna's trunk. She was breathing heavily but grinned nevertheless when she saw Luna and Leila standing there.

"Hi, Luna," Madeleine coughed. "Did Leila show you everything?" She didn't even give Luna the time to answer, but continued talking right away. "I don't understand why they forbid magic in the corridors. This trunk is freaking heavy. What do you have in there - stones?"

Luna was startled by this question. Madeleine apparently was a bit confused; thinking she had stones in there. After all, this was her trunk with her clothes. "No, of course not! Why should I?"

"I believe Madeleine was trying to make a joke," Miranda explained to her in a dry voice. "Would you mind helping us?" she then asked, turning towards Leila, who had watched the scene silently.

"Actually, yes, I do. I'll wreck my nails."

"I don't care about your nails, Leila," Miranda said, "and now get right over here and help us, because this trunk really is heavy."

Leila still hesitated and looked at her hands doubtfully. Miranda added, "Or do you want me to tell Rebecca?"

"No, of course not," Leila said quickly and helped the other two. When Luna wanted to help them, too, Madeleine shook her head. "You're the guest, Luna," she said disapprovingly. "You don't have to help us."

"But I want to," Luna replied, startled by her reaction.

Miranda thrust Merlin into her arms. "Here. Hold your teddy, then I don't have to be careful about him anymore."

They walked a bit further and soon they reached their dormitory. The chandeliers on the wall let the silver sign gleam bright in the otherwise rather dark corridor. Luna pushed the door open and the other three girls squeezed through with the trunk.

Finally they let it drop in the middle of the room.

"We have to wait for Rebecca," Miranda said, "we don't know where your bed and wardrobe are going to be."

"Is Rebecca your Prefect?" Luna burst out with the question she had had in mind for some time now.

The girls looked surprised, then Madeleine began to laugh and showed her huge teeth once more. Miranda rolled her eyes and told her to shut up. Leila seemed to be untouched by all this and looked at her hands; probably checking her nail polish.

"Oh, no," Madeleine gasped finally after she had recovered herself.

Luna wondered what was so funny about her question to make Madeleine laugh that hard. After all, she had only asked whether Rebecca was the prefect in their year, which would be only logical judging from what she'd seen so far.

"Madeleine, will you shut up now?" Miranda asked in an annoyed voice. Then she looked at Luna. "Actually, _I_ am this year's female prefect," she said, her face suddenly completely blank.

Now she had said it, Luna could see the prefect badge on her school robes, gleaming green and silver in the dim light. But if Miranda was the prefect, then why was Rebecca giving out orders and everyone - including Miranda - following them?

Obviously her feelings must have shown clearly on her face, because Madeleine leaned close to her and explained, "Rebecca's always been the one who was in charge, ever since our first year." Her breath smelled of chocolate and surprisingly, was not as unpleasant as the look of her teeth suggested.

"However, as she has always been modest and quiet, Dumbledore supposed Miranda, proper and clever, would be the most suited one of the four of us to be Prefect."

"Oh." Luna turned to Miranda. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to be rude, I just... assumed it was different."

"It's all right," Miranda said in her cool voice and nodded curtly to show she had accepted the apology.

Madeleine tugged at Luna's sleeve. "Come on, sit down and tell us something about you! I'm so curious! Come, we can sit on my bed if you want!" After a short pause she added, "If you want to, you can come too, Miranda..."

Miranda shook her head and smiled a smile that reminded Luna vaguely of Professor McGonagall's. "No, I have homework to do, I'm sorry. _You_ have homework to do, too," she added with one raised eyebrow and a pointed look and looked even more like McGonagall.

"Oh Randy, homework isn't as important as Luna! After all, it's not like we get an exchange student every day, is it?"

Miranda shot her a cold look. "Madeleine, you _know_ I hate nicknames. Any form of nicknames. Especially if they're applied to me. My name is _Miranda_ and not Randy or Mi or whatever else you have called me yet. And now, excuse me, I have to go." She straightened herself, grabbed her schoolbag and strutted out of the door.

Madeleine stared at the closed door and then shook her head in disbelief. "Honestly," she said. "I'm sorry, Luna. Of course, homework isn't more important than you are, is it?" She laughed her loud, untamed laugh again.

"I have homework to do, too," Luna told her. "It has been a long day for me and I'd like to go to bed early and have everything settled before that."

Madeleine looked highly disappointed and her lower lip seemed to tremble, but Luna didn't really notice it. She danced across the dormitory, crossing it in two steps and a turn. She started to hum a little melody and bent down to open her trunk. Its leather surface looked dull in the dim light emerging from the green lamps hanging from the ceiling. _Lovegood_ was written on one side of it in golden letters that shimmered weakly. It was her Daddy's old school trunk, and she was very proud to be allowed to use it.

She opened the lid and took out her schoolbag, which she had pressed into one corner of the trunk. It was heavy from her books, and a broken feather hung out of it. Obviously it had broken when she had pushed the bag into her trunk. Luna hoped that no inkbottle was broken and checked hastily, but everything seemed to be alright.

While Luna looked through her bag, Madeleine seemed to think hard. In concentration she squeezed her eyes shut, then suddenly, as Luna was about to go out to the Common Room, she had an idea.

"Hey, Luna!" she said excitedly.

Luna turned around and looked at her. "Yes?" she asked.

"We can do our homework together!"

"Yes," Luna said. "That's why I wanted to go to the Common Room, you know?"

"Oh, but we can do it here!" Madeleine exclaimed happily and pointed towards the beds. Luna looked at them sceptically. "Well," she began. "They're a bit soft. It's not easy to write on them. I prefer tables, you know."

"No problem," Madeleine replied nonchalantly and waved her wand towards her own bed. "_Facio rigidum,_" she said, then went over to it and touched the quilt. "See?" she beamed. "It's gone all rigid and we can write on it eas- oh." With a disappointed look she touched it again. "It's soft again."

Leila, who had been lying on her own bed and had watched the scene quietly, snorted. "Forget it, Scrivenshaft," she said.

Luna supposed that had to be Madeleine's last name. It sounded strangely familiar, somehow, but she couldn't quite place it at the moment. Maybe a relative of her had written an article for _The Quibbler_?

"You suck at magic," Leila sneered and interrupted Luna's thoughts.

"I don't," Madeleine retorted and stuck her tongue out at her.

"You do," Leila said with raised eyebrows. "And _please_ stop being so childish."

"I'm _not_ being childish!" Madeleine said, outraged.

"Sure you are." Leila seemed to enjoy the argument, as she grinned and her eyes sparkled.

"If you want my opinion," Luna said carefully, not wanting them to be angry at her, "your behaviour _is_ -"

"Well, we don't want your opinion," Leila sneered coolly. "This is between Scrivenshaft and me. Don't intervene when you have no idea."

"But I can see what's going on here," Luna said. "So I have an idea. Therefore I can intervene. As I tried to say before, Madeleine's behaviour is rather childish, but you, Leila -"

"You have no idea of when it is enough, have you?" Leila asked.

Luna felt hurt. She had only wanted to help them sort their argument out, and now Leila was being mean to her. That wasn't fair.

"Listen, Luna. Leila doesn't mean it," Madeleine said quietly. "She can be very bitchy at times, but she forgets about it in an instant, as well. So don't think it's something personal."

She gave Luna a reassuring look and Luna felt slightly better. She decided to let them clear the argument between themselves and not interrupt anymore. It wouldn't be wise to make enemies on her first evening in Slytherin, so she rather kept her mouth shut.

_"Facio rigidum_," she said instead quietly and pointed her wand at Madeleine's bed. The quilt turned hard again and she pulled a chair close to it and spread her books across it. She flipped her History of Magic-book open and began reading. Binns had assigned them two rolls of parchment and she intended to complete the essay today. With her quill she marked some sentences so she could find them again later. A little melody came into her mind and she started to hum quietly. Her thoughts drifted away from the homework and towards the next Quidditch game, which was bound to take place soon. Although, she remembered suddenly, Dumbledore had said something about Quidditch in his speech.

She could see the problem, of course. Quidditch players who had changed Houses, like Draco Malfoy, would risk the friendship they could have built up with their new Housemates by playing a game against them. No, that couldn't be...

Lost in thought, she scribbled on the edge of her parchment and found herself drawing a somewhat clumsy-looking Hippogriff. She smiled a little, then she tried to draw a Flobberworm. It didn't really look like one, but Luna didn't care. She had forgotten completely about Quidditch.

With the tip of her quill she carefully added some green spots on the worm's head and tilted her head to the side to have a better look at it. She tapped her wand against the two figures and they started to move on the parchment. "They're playing," she murmured happily as the Hippogriff carefully sniffed at the Flobberworm's head.

"Hey, what's that?" Madeleine asked. Luna looked up and around with wide eyes. She had been so absorbed in her drawing that she had completely forgotten about being in the Slytherin dormitory. She couldn't have been more surprised if she had looked up to find herself in Dumbledore's office and drinking tea with him - which actually wasn't all that improbable, she mused. She supposed Dumbledore could invite her into his office some time soon because she had thought of the Inter-House exchanges. Maybe he would offer her some of the sweets he was obviously eating constantly. Every time Luna was near him, there was a faint scent of something sweet in the air. She was fairly sure this indicated a high sweets-consummation.

Suddenly Madeleine snatched the parchment away from her and Luna's eyes focussed on her. The other girl looked at her drawing sceptically.

"Okay," she said, "that's a Hungarian Horntail, I can see that clearly." She pointed at the parchment. "I like dragons a lot, you know," she added and beamed at Luna. "But what's that? Is it... well... it could be... a Pixie?"

Luna, who had at first not understood what she was talking about, now grabbed the parchment and pulled it back towards herself.

"Excuse me," she said coolly. "That's obviously a Hippogriff and a Flobberworm. And now I have to continue my essay."

"Oh," Madeleine said and blushed heavily. "Oh, Luna, you know, of _course_ that's a Hippogriff, you can see that very clearly! It's just - the light isn't too good here and - and I don't wear my glasses - and - "

"You don't _have_ glasses, Scrivenshaft," Leila interrupted merrily.

"Shut up, Leila," Madeleine hissed.

Suddenly Luna looked up again. "Scrivenshaft is a shop in Hogsmeade," she said. She smiled a little, glad to know where she knew that name from.

"Yes," Madeleine said, a little confused. "That's right."

"And your last name is Scrivenshaft, too."

"Yes," the other girl repeated.

"Your parents own the shop."

"No," Madeleine smiled. "My uncle Janus owns it. He's my father's brother, and he sends me new quills and things like that all the time." She paused, then added, "My father's name is Julius, you know. Isn't that funny? Janus and Julius. Do you want to know why they are called that? For that, you have to know that my grandfather is - "

"Scrivenshaft, _please_," Leila moaned. "Not _again_ the story that your grandfather is a passionate lover of the Roman culture and wanted to call his sons accordingly. They had another brother," she added, turning towards Luna. "He was called Nero. He died when he was five. Drowned in a lake. Not all that bad of a fate, if you think about it. _I_ wouldn't want to be called after a mad emperor who set Rome on fire." With that she turned back to looking at her nails.

Luna stared at her. "How do you know all that?" she asked, surprised.

"Madeleine tells everybody the story of her father's and uncle's name, no matter if the poor sod wants to hear it or not," Leila explained in a bored voice. "It's probably the only interesting thing there is about her. _Accio _nail polish," she added and pointed her wand at a small bottle that stood on a table on the other side of the room. It flew across the room and smashed on Leila's bed. The nail polish splattered on Leila's quilt and her jumper.

"Flying flobberworms!" she shrieked and jumped up. "_Reparo,_" she said quickly and waved her wand. The shards of glass flew back together, but the nail polish remained where it was. With a quiet sigh, Leila muttered "_Evanesco_" and the polish vanished. She took another bottle from her night-stand and prodded it with her wand. The nail polish started to spread itself cleanly on her fingernails.

Luna continued to stare at her for a moment, but Leila didn't seem to notice it. Next to her, Madeleine cleared her throat and Luna looked at her over her shoulder.

"Do you have a sore throat?" she asked carefully. "I have some very good drops, if you want one. My Daddy gave them to me. He's always so worried about my health in winter. He fears I might get the flu, although I've never had it before."

"No, no," Madeleine replied hastily. "I don't need a drop. Stop grinning, Leila, I can see it!"

"I'm not doing anything," the other declared innocently from her bed.

"Anyway," Madeleine continued. "What are you doing there? An essay for Binns? May I have a look at it? We have History of Magic tomorrow, and it could be useful to know what he's going to talk about..."

They absorbed themselves in their books and Luna explained what they had been talking about in the last lesson. Luna tried to explain everything to Madeleine, but she soon was getting a little irritated because her new dorm-mate didn't seem to understand anything.

"No, Madeleine," she said for the third time. "Gifford Ollerton killed _Hengist of Upper Barnton_, not Bran the Bloodthirsty. Hengist of Upper Barnton. Killed by Gifford Ollerton. It's really simple, Madeleine." She pointed at a line in her book.

"Listen, Luna, you don't have to call me by my full name. Nobody does."

"Everybody does," Leila interjected, but this time Madeleine ignored her.

"My friends call me Maddy."

"They would, rather, if you had friends. Very fitting name, by the way - 'the mad Maddy'," the black-haired girl said and threw her shiny mane back over her shoulder.

"Very funny, Lei-" Madeleine began, but she never finished the sentence, because at that moment the door flew open and banged against the wall. In came Professor Snape with billowing robes. Rebecca followed three steps behind and quietly closed the door.

"_Well, it is obviously not going to be Professor Snape, is it?_" Madeleine said quietly with a hint of derision in her voice, imitating Miranda's facial expression. Nobody really listened to her, however, because at that moment, a conflict ensued.

"_Manners_, Professor," Leila complained quietly, but loud enough for Snape to hear it. "Polite people knock before they enter a room."

"My manners - or rather, my obvious lack of them - are none of your concern, Miss Sullivan," Snape replied with a mirthless smile. "But I'd advise your parents to wash your mouth with soap - _manners_ include being polite to authorities," he added in his silkiest voice. "Be lucky you're one of my students, or I would have docked you points."

He looked at her intensely with the steel look only he could produce. Leila moved her hand through her hair, looking ill at ease.

Then Snape turned away from her briskly. "Miss Lovegood," he said and Luna could hear the distaste in his voice. "It's a pleasure to have you with us in Slytherin."

"The pleasure is all mine," Luna replied politely, determined not to let him see that his behaviour towards her hurt her, and indicated a smile.

Then Snape turned away from her as well and pointed his wand at the far corner of the room and murmured something. He made a complicated-looking movement with his wand and a bed and a wardrobe appeared.

"Sleep well," he said quietly with his voice that always reminded Luna of a sharp sword that was wrapped in silk cloths. "And have sweet dreams." Luna swallowed hard as his black eyes fixed on her for a short moment and he smiled nastily. He had something around him that made her uneasy.

With a swoop of his robes their professor vanished out of the door again. He hadn't been in the room for longer than two minutes, but somehow he had still managed to ruin the whole more or less calm atmosphere. For a moment, nobody knew what to say to ease the tension that had suddenly built up in the dormitory.

"He sure loves these dramatic scenes, doesn't he?" Rebecca eventually said dryly, but nobody replied, not even Leila, who still pouted at being treated like that by Snape.

"You didn't argue again, did you?" Rebecca asked, looking from Madeleine to Leila sharply. When neither of them answered, she sighed quietly. "_Girls_," she said. "Is it that hard to be peaceful, at least in the dormitory? What do you think Luna thinks of you now?"

Madeleine bit on her lip and sneaked a look at Luna, and even Leila looked kind of thoughtful for a moment.

"Actually, I think I was lucky to get in with girls as nice as you all," Luna piped up. "I do think Leila and Madeleine are friendly girls, they just have problems accepting each other."

For a moment, Rebecca looked at her tentatively. Then she grinned, although it seemed a bit forced to Luna. "Well, thanks for making my sermon useless," she said. "Anyway, Leila, Madeleine, I do hope you two will be able to control yourselves a little better in the future."

Turning to Luna, she asked, "Did Leila show you everything?"

Luna nodded. "Yes, of course," she replied and felt a huge yawn coming up. She yawned and stretched herself, then she went to her trunk and pulled out her nightgown. "I'm tired," she said. "I think I'll go to the bathroom." With that she turned towards the door and started walking.

"Wait, Luna," Madeleine said quickly and got her own pyjamas. "I'm coming with you!"

"You?" Miranda asked dubiously. "But usually you're the one to stay up longest."

"So what? I'm tired today," Madeleine snapped.

"Are you coming?" Luna asked, hand on the handle. "Maddy?" she added as she remembered that Madeleine apparently liked to be called that.

"_Maddy_?" Rebecca asked and looked at Leila and Miranda dubiously. "Since when does she have a nickname?"

"Don't ask," Luna heard Leila groan before the door slowly shut itself behind her. "She's a real barnacle and always as close to Luna as if she was glued to her. _And_ she invented that nickna-" The door shut itself with a quiet click.

_So Madeleine didn't have that nickname before?_ Luna thought. Why did she invent it, then? To impress her? That wouldn't make sense.

"Madeleine," she called and the girl turned around. "Why did you invent that nickname for you if everybody else calls you Madeleine?"

"Oh, well..." Her companion looked at the ground and blushed a little. "I never had a real friend before. Here in Slytherin, everybody's just so... self-centred. But you're different from everybody here in this House. And I've a feeling that we might have a good friendship, so I wanted a special name that's just for me and you. Would you like a nickname, too?"

"I don't know, actually," Luna said slowly. "After all, _Luna_ already is a rather short name. I never had a nickname before."

"Neither had I!" Madeleine said excitedly. "Oh, come on, this is so much fun!"

Finally Luna agreed, and Madeleine beamed. "That's great! And your nickname will be... Lu!" Expectantly she looked at Luna, waiting for a reaction. Luna, who didn't really care, nodded.

"Oh, Lu, that's fantastic!" Madeleine cried and hugged her tightly.

"Madeleine - _Maddy_, stop it, I can't breathe," Luna coughed and her new friend loosened her grip a little, but still held her tight.

"Come on, Lu, let's go and brush our teeth," Madeleine said merrily. "Brush, brush, brush your teeth..." she started to sing quietly and Luna just followed her, still thinking about her new nickname.

_Lu_, she thought and tested the sound of it. It didn't sound like her, she thought. But if Madeleine liked it, she would go with it.

Maybe that was the first step to getting new acquaintances. Madeleine seemed to like her, so she should be careful to keep the situation like that.

Miranda and Leila didn't seem to be too fond of her, but at least they were indifferent until now. And Rebecca - Luna wasn't sure what to think of her. She seemed nice and friendly and always tried to help, but Luna could sense that there was more to it, and she wasn't sure if all of it was positive for her.

"Lu, you coming?" Madeleine called from the bathroom and Luna had to remind herself that now, she was _Lu_ and had to react when called that.

"Sure, Made - Maddy," she said and strolled towards the half-open door, yawning widely.

It had been an exhausting day, and she was sure there were more of them to come.


	5. Luna 5

Neville sat at the far end of the Slytherin Table, carefully avoiding looking anybody in the eye. He didn't want to give them a reason to mock and hurt him. That was the last thing he needed in the morning - especially after his first night in Slytherin. A bunch of nasty comments and teasing had been waiting for him when he had entered his dormitory. Of course, he had expected no less, but it still was horrible when he reminded himself that he'd have to endure this for the rest of the term.

He had been surprised that nothing else had followed this welcome, except several threats and some minor hexes, but they hadn't been as bad as he had expected them to be. All in all, it had been a "good" evening under the given circumstances - well, apart from the fact that he hadn't been able to fall asleep until very late in the night - or had it been very early in the morning- because somebody in his new dormitory had snored so loudly and continually that every thought of sleeping had vanished very quickly.

He poured himself some cereal and started eating, leafing through his _Daily Prophet_. Without much interest he read an article about some witch from Bristol who had gone berserk and had jinxed several young people who had laughed too loud for her taste in front of her house.

He sighed and shot a wistful look in the direction of the Gryffindor table. _This exchange was the dumbest idea ever_, he thought miserably.

He wanted back to Gryffindor. Desperately.

At that moment, somebody plopped down on the bench next to him. Surprised, he looked up to see who in Slytherin would care enough for him to actually sit with him.

He was even more surprised when he saw Luna, who at the moment was picking some dust from the sleeve of her robe.

It seemed she had felt him looking at her her, because she looked up at him and smiled. Her eerie silvery eyes shone with glee.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully. "I hope you slept well?"

"Not really," he said curtly and turned back to his cereals. His joy upon seeing her had vanished quickly and had left the uncertainty he always felt when he was near her. Her eyes frightened him, although he couldn't say why, and her behaviour was simply weird. He didn't understand her.

"That's a pity," she said and looked thoughtful for a moment. "But I did, at least."

Neville wondered if that was supposed to make him feel better in any way. But he wasn't the kind of person to actually ask questions like this, so he stayed silent.

Luna helped herself to some porridge and then said completely out of the blue, "Last night I dreamed that I was flying again."

Neville's head swivelled round and he looked at her in surprise, but she continued to eat her porridge without reacting to his stare.

He shook his head. What a peculiar girl.

It seemed she wasn't inclined to say anything soon, and a silence that felt extremely uncomfortable to Neville descended over the two of them. He wanted to say something, just for the sake of breaking it.

He hesitated, then he said, "I've never dreamt I was flying." He had spoken very quietly, half hoping she hadn't heard him. Luna continued eating her porridge without reacting, so he thought she really hadn't.

But eventually, she said, "It's actually very easy, you know. Like swimming. Only in the air." Her tone was relaxed and she didn't look at him, but still he had the distinct feeling she was trying to tell him something, although he wasn't sure what it was.

"Oh, dear," Luna suddenly said. "I forgot my book bag _again_. I really have a brain like a sieve." With a small sigh, she got up. "Have a nice day, Neville," she said. "You should try it, you'll like it," she added, and then she was gone.

_Try what?_ He was confused. This was one of the moments that reminded him why exactly he found Luna Lovegood odd and bizarre. _Try what?_ He wondered again. _Having a nice day? Surely not. Not in Slytherin._

Maybe - maybe she had meant flying. Or, rather, flying in dreams. Neville could fly on a broom, of course, but he had never been flying without a broom - not even in a dream. Besides, he didn't like flying at all. In fact, it terrified him. He didn't like heights, and he'd never forgotten his first disastrous flying lesson. He tried to imagine how flying without a broom would look, and the picture of Luna revolving around the Astronomy Tower, making strange movements with her arms, popped up in his head.

_Like swimming. Only in the air_, her voice echoed in his mind and he shook his head to stop it.

_What a way to start my first day in Slytherin_, he thought and turned back to his cereal.

Luna entered the Defence against the Dark Arts-classroom and looked around. She had come here by herself, which wasn't all that easy, because Madeleine - _Maddy_ - had monopolized her since she woke up that morning.

Only a few tables were already occupied and she was about to settle down at one at the back of the room when she noticed Ginny sitting at a table in the second row, directly next to the window.

Ginny smiled at her and waved. For a moment Luna was surprised to see her there, because she usually had her classes with the Hufflepuffs, but after a moment of confusion she remembered she was in Slytherin now. If that meant having more classes with Ginny, then the Exchange finally had a positive effect.

"Hello, Ginny," she said when she had walked over to her.

"Do you want to sit with me?" Ginny asked her with a merry smile and Luna nodded. She couldn't say anything because she was so happy. Ginny really seemed to be pleased to have her sitting next to her. It felt good to have somebody who liked to sit next to her.

Ginny immediately launched herself into a tirade of gossip, but Luna didn't listen. Ginny had no idea how important it was to her to have somebody inviting her to sit next to her. What a wonderful life Ginny must have as a popular person. A quiet sigh escaped her lips, then she willed herself to listen to Ginny's story.

"Ron and Hermione had another fight this morning," Ginny blabbed. "It's really getting on my nerves - and on Harry's as well, judging from his face. He looks gloomier every day. I don't get it - why can't they just admit that they like each other, kiss and go out so the bickering stops?" Ginny groaned and pinched her eyebrow in exasperation.

"I mean, really. Everybody knows they belong together - except them!" Ginny rolled her eyes. "I just don't understand why they can't admit it. Don't you think it's obvious?"

Luna considered the question. It hurt to hear that Ron had obviously found himself a girlfriend, even though they weren't a couple yet. She admitted to herself that she had a crush on Ron - it was hard not to like him, with his always laughing eyes and his wonderful mouth. She could look at him for hours without getting bored. She was sure it would feel wonderful to be safely held in his strong arms and feel his warm breath on her skin.

"Luna?" Ginny asked cautiously and Luna snapped out of her reverie.

"What?" she asked. "Oh. Oh, yes, it's obvious, of course."

That satisfied Ginny and she continued to complain about Ron and Hermione's bickering. Luna went back to dreaming of Ron. Still, she noticed it didn't hurt as much as it should to hear of him being in love with somebody who wasn't her. There should be a huge gap in her heart, a big dream breaking down, shattering. But it wasn't there.

Suddenly she felt somebody's eyes on her back and turned to see who it was. Madeleine was standing in the doorway and staring at her with huge eyes and a disbelieving expression on her face. She looked shocked and fairly sad. Luna felt a merry jolt of her heart as she saw that this sadness had been caused because Madeleine couldn't sit next to her. Immediately, she regretted the feeling of happiness she had felt, because Madeleine was sad because of her. It wasn't good to make other people sad; but still, she couldn't suppress her glee at knowing that _two people_ wanted to sit next to her, even though that meant that one of them had to be miserable.

Seldom had she felt so many feelings in such a short span of time - first happy, then really, really sad, and then happy again - although she knew she should feel bad.

Madeleine sat down next to Miranda in the first row and shot Luna a last, accusing glance. Then she turned to her neighbour and started talking to her. Miranda's pigtails hopped up and down as she nodded and listened to Madeleine. _Maddy_, Luna corrected herself. She just couldn't get used to this nickname.

The door that led to the teacher's room opened and Professor Hamilton-Jones stepped in. The conversations ceased. All eyes were upon the woman who stood nonchalantly next to her desk.

"Good day, class," their teacher greeted them with a loud voice that told Luna she was used to giving out orders. The class murmured in response and Hamilton-Jones sat down on her desk.

"I corrected the tests you did during the last lesson," she said loudly. "Nonsense. All of it. There's not a single person in this class who managed an O. I'm highly disappointed in you. I think you're the worst class I have this year. Never before have I seen so many people with so little knowledge about Defence against the Dark Arts."

With a loud swooshing sound she took a folder from her desktop and opened it. "Defensive spells - two people managed to answer all questions correctly. Attacking spells - a whole _four_. Beasts - five out of twenty. And seven don't have a clue what the difference between the Frankenstein and a Werewolf is. This is a_ shame_. Last but not least: giants. I may announce to you that _none_ has managed to answer all questions correctly."

She closed the folder loudly. "You will never achieve an OWL in Defence if you don't start learning hard immediately. It seems that not one of you has realised as of yet how important the ability to defend yourself against all Dark forces is these days. Have your parents not told you anything about the First War and how it was then? Do none of you realise how many deaths there already were, and how many are still to come?

"I know you thought your first week under my regime was really hard, and don't think I didn't hear you complain. 'Who does this woman think she is?' Let me tell you something - that was nothing. Nothing compared to the things that are waiting for you in my classes during this year. Your OWLs are waiting at the end of this year, and you need to be prepared. But, what's way more important - and I'm not getting tired of reminding you of this - is the ability to resist the Dark forces, to fight them, to win against them.

"Therefore, and I'm sure all of you agree with me on that, my subject - the Defence against the Dark Arts - is one of, if not _the_ most important subject you have."

Her eyes swept over the classroom and fixed themselves on somebody behind Luna. "You don't agree, Miss ?" Hamilton-Jones asked.

"Laurence," Rebecca's voice resounded, clearly audible from the back of the classroom.

"Very well, Miss Laurence," the professor said. "You don't agree with me that being able to defend yourself against dark forces is a very... crucial subject in the current climate?"

"No," came the quick reply. "Well, I mean - leaving aside the fact that I still can't really believe You-Know-Who's back - I ask you, _who_ would want to attack me? I'm a fifteen-year-old girl, for crying in the cauldron! I didn't do anything to anyone. Besides, I'm in Slytherin. Now, who should want to do something - _anything_ - to me? A Death Eater? Why should he? I'm sorry, but I really don't buy that."

"Fine," Hamilton-Jones retorted. "Then let's have a little discussion about Death Eaters and the danger they are. I won't say anything on the subject just yet - let's see what your classmates think about this, Miss Laurence."

For a moment there was silence as she looked at them encouragingly and nobody dared to speak up. Luna and Ginny exchanged a quick look and Ginny thrust her hand in the air.

"Go ahead," the professor nodded in her direction. "And your name is?"

"Ginny Weasley," Ginny said and then half turned in her chair to look at Rebecca. "Are you _serious_ when you say you don't think Death Eaters would attack you?"

Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "Let me tell you something. You-Know-Who's back, and I will swear on everything that is holy and sacred that that is the truth. If you don't believe me, then have a little conversation with a friend of mine - maybe you know him. His name is Harry Potter. He can tell you what You-Know-Who can do to a fourteen-year-old.

"And if that doesn't convince you, here's something else. Together with said Harry Potter and some other students - " here she shot Luna a look "-; I went to the Ministry of Magic last year; why doesn't matter now. Just believe me this: there were Death Eaters. And they were more than willing to hurt and hex every single one of us and use the Unforgivables on us. They would have killed us, had they had the opportunity. I could have been dead if it wasn't for Luna; she carried me and my brother out of danger while still fighting the Death Eaters.

"If I recall correctly, you're a half-blood, aren't you? Don't be so blind to think they'd spare you because you are in Slytherin. You are scum to them, just like every other half-blood or muggleborn. They will come after you and your family sooner or later, and you will be grateful then if you are able to defend yourself and the ones you love."

There was silence when Ginny had finished speaking, then their professor quietly said, "Thank you, Miss Weasley. I couldn't have said it better myself." She took a deep breath and said, "Do you want to add something, Miss Laurence?"

No reply came, and Hamilton-Jones continued to speak.

"Now, after this impressive little speech from Miss Weasley, I want to remind you once more about something essential for proper Defence: you should only attack when it is absolutely necessary; don't do this for fun. Just because you can cast a spell, doesn't mean you should. As you all know, there are strict laws against unnecessary hexing. You must use these hexes only when you, your friends or family are in danger, not to show your friends how 'cool' you are. And no, I'm not getting tired of telling you that again and again. Understood?"

A wry smile passed over her face, then she asked, "Any questions?"

Miranda raised her hand and asked, "Professor, is it true you were involved in developing the Wolfsbane Potion?"

"Yes," their teacher said curtly with a slight nod. "However, this is another branch of magic we're not likely to discuss in this class. If you have any questions concerning the potion, I'm sure Professor Snape will be happy to enlighten you. Any other questions?"

As nobody seemed to have any more questions, Hamilton-Jones clapped her hands once and got up from her table.

"I'll give you back your tests, then. Whatever little knowledge about the Dark Arts you have is here on these parchments."

She started walking up and down between their tables, slapping the tests on the desktops. When she had reached Luna and Ginny, she stopped. "Congratulations," she said dryly. "Together, you two would have achieved an O. You're the best in the class. Still, it wasn't enough for more than an A for each of you. But I do expect better from you in the future." With an approving nod, she went away, back to her table.

There she looked down on them sternly.

"After your lousy written performance, I do hope that at least you're remotely good at practical Defence. Be assured that I'll be most disappointed if you don't perform well. And, one more thing to keep in mind - the more I'm disappointed, the more homework you'll get. Written _and_ practical.

"If there are no questions, put your books away and get up. Take your wands out."

As they all stood up, she sent the tables and chairs along the walls with a flick of her wand.

"Please pair up. We're going to practice _Expelliarmus_. Can anyone explain how this spell works?"

Luna paired up with Ginny, ignoring Madeleine's looks in her back, and smiled at her partner. They had practiced that spell in the DA last year, and they knew they wouldn't have any problems.

The last lesson they had that day was History of Magic and, as expected, Binns lectured on about the giant wars. It was a boring lesson, especially because Luna had already heard it all word for word three days ago.

When Binns mentioned Gifford Ollerton, the famous giant-killer, she looked over to Madeleine, who sat in the first row again, next to Miranda. However, Madeleine didn't seem to remember the past evening and how Luna had told her about Ollerton and the giants. It was like she hadn't helped her at all; she didn't turn and smile at Luna, she didn't even appear to hear what Binns told them, she simply continued to sit with her head on the table, either sleeping or at least dozing.

Luna felt hurt. Why had she done it, then? Why had she explained it all to her, two, three, four times and never got tired of it? Why had she neglected her own homework for Madeleine if now she pretended it hadn't happened at all?

She would have to talk to her later, in the dormitory. She'd ask Madeleine why she had asked her to help her in the first place when she didn't want to know it at all.

It probably wasn't the smartest move she could make on her second evening in Slytherin, but the conflict seemed to be inevitable. After all, it hadn't been her who had started it all.

Luna was really outraged. She liked to help, as long as her help was being appreciated. When she was supposed to help people and they didn't even acknowledge her troubles or even thank her, it made her mad. Except, of course, when she was to help her Daddy. He had never thanked her for anything she had done for him, but he didn't have to. He needed her, and he was so absorbed in his work for _The Quibbler_ that he didn't have the time to thank her every time she did something for him. That was natural.

Luna sighed.

She couldn't concentrate on Binns' lecture today - it was so dull. Luna was interested in the magical history - she had read several books about it, actually - but the way Binns taught it, it was no surprise none of the students were interested.

The topic of the giant wars was gripping, and there was a lot of planning, and cunning methods behind it - something that should be very interesting for Slytherins. However, most of them just dozed through the lessons. Except Miranda, of course, who was busy scribbling down notes on her parchment. She reminded Luna of Hermione.

The thought of Hermione brought her to thinking about Neville. He had seemed so forlorn this morning and he had stared over to the Gryffindor Table so miserably that she had decided to sit with him, instead of getting to know the Slytherin boys. That could wait; she'd be in classes with them for the whole term.

But Neville had looked so sad that she had tried to cheer him up. She wasn't sure if it had worked, though. She had tried to tell him subtly to try and ease his mind a bit and see life more pleasantly, but she wasn't sure whether he had understood her.

If the Exchanges in the other Houses were just as sad and miserable as Neville, the Exchange wouldn't advance anything. They'd all wish they could be in their old House again and see their friends more often, instead of trying to get to know their new dorm-mates better.

It would probably help if they were able to sit with their friends during lunch-time, so they could talk to each other easily. But, of course, the House tables were rather hindering for that. It would be way better to have smaller tables where everybody could sit. Smaller tables, where students who belonged to different Houses but were still friends could easily talk to each other.

Luna considered this thought for a moment. It sounded good, but she wasn't entirely sure. And, of course, if it was acceptable, there was still the problem of the Headmaster and the staff. Would they approve of it? And would they be willing to get new tables and abolish an order that had probably been in place for centuries?

She had to get another opinion. "Ginny," she whispered.

Ginny didn't react - she was drowsily scribbling on her piece of parchment, drawing little flowers and a smiling sun.

"Ginny," Luna whispered again, more urgently this time. Ginny still didn't react.

Without further ado, Luna rammed her elbow into Ginny's ribs.

"OW!" Ginny yelled and students turned to look at them. Ginny blushed and gestured them to look away again. Binns seemed to be the only one who hadn't noticed a thing.

"What the hell was that for?" Ginny asked her, heatedly. Her brown eyes sparkled with fury, and she was clutching her right side. In that instant, she looked so much like Ronald that Luna couldn't speak for a moment and gasped. It was clear now, even more than usual, that the two of them were related.

"Luna!" Ginny hissed angrily. "Did you hear me? What did you hurt me for?"

"Ronald?" Luna said, a little dazed. She heard Ginny's voice, but her face looked like Ronald's. He was so close to her...

"Luna!" Ginny had grabbed her arm and shook it. "Are you all right? What's up with Ron? Did something happen?" Her voice started to sound a little panicky.

"No, no..." Luna replied. Slowly Ronald's face morphed back into Ginny's and she could think clearly again.

"Are you sure? Are you all right? Is Ron all right? What's up?"

"I don't know. For a moment, there wasn't your face in your face. I mean, there _was_ your face, but it didn't _look_ like your face."

Ginny looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Are you _sure_ you're all right?"

"Yes," Luna said. "It's just that - for a moment I thought I saw Ronald's face instead of yours."

The look on Ginny's face softened. "You like him, right?" she asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Luna said. "He's so... _alive_. He's full of life and of laughter. I don't know what I'm feeling - but it feels good, in a way. Different from everything I've ever felt, but good."

The corners of Ginny's mouth curled up. "Oh Luna, that's so cute. Do you want me to talk to him for you?"

"No!" Luna said, shocked. "Don't! And anyway... I don't think he likes me."

"Oh, you can't say-" Ginny said, but suddenly Luna remembered what she had originally wanted to say.

"I wanted to tell you something," she interrupted Ginny. "I was thinking of Neville. Did you ever look at his eyes closely? They're so huge and warm. And so sad."

"I thought you liked Ron," Ginny said.

"Yes, of course I do, but that's not the point. I sat next to him this morning and he was staring over to Gryffindor Table and looked so sad and forlorn. It really hurt me to see that. He always has this aura of sadness around him, but this morning it was really strong. I tried to cheer him up, but I don't think it worked.

"I know he wants back to Gryffindor and thinks this Exchange is nonsense. But I think I have a solution. Imagine he could still sit with Harry and Ronald and his other friends, have lunch with them and just get to know what's happening while he's away. Don't you think he'd be much happier in Slytherin? When he knows that he can always talk to his friends and eat with them?"

"Probably," Ginny said cautiously. "What do you want to say? Come on, don't make it that exciting!"

Luna turned around and looked at Professor Binns, but she probably could have danced rumba on her table and he wouldn't have noticed. Their classmates were mostly dozing away, and two Slytherin boys were playing _Hangman_ on a sheet of parchment.

"I think," she whispered and bent over to Ginny, "we should ask for permission for mixed tables."

"What?" Ginny said.

"Mixed tables. The House Tables should be abolished completely, they aren't necessary anyway. These smaller tables at the Yule Ball, two years ago - that's what we need. Tables where people are free to sit with whoever they want, independent of their House, and just talk to anybody who sits with them. If people want to, they can change their table every day. This would be so good for house unity."

For a moment, Ginny was silent. Then, she said, "Luna - this is simply brilliant."

"Do you think so?" she asked, blushing.

"Yes, absolutely. You should so go to McGonagall and tell her this. She did say we should come to her with ideas, didn't she? This is really good. I like this idea better and better the more I think about it. We should go to McGonagall immediately after this lesson."

"No, I don't have time today," Luna said. "But I'll go see her as soon as possible. You can come, too, if you want."

Luna walked from Ravenclaw Tower towards the Entrance Hall. She had forgotten that she was now in Slytherin, and had walked straight to her old House. Only when she had stood in front of the oak door had she realized that that was not the place she was supposed to go to.

As she stepped into the Entrance Hall, she almost fell over two schoolbags that lay on the ground. She looked around to find their owners and saw a group of people close to the corridor that led to the Hufflepuff dormitories.

"I'll give you 'Muggle scum', you filthy Death Eater!" a boy shouted at this moment. "Don't you dare insult him again!"

"No, Owen!" a girl said, obviously trying to calm him down. "He's not worth your energy."

Luna cautiously walked closer to the group. They were standing in a circle, surrounding something. Luna took another step forward, now close enough to see their faces. In the middle of the group blond hair was clearly visible. That had to be Draco Malfoy. _Of course_, she thought, shaking her head. _I should've known Malfoy wouldn't get along with the Hufflepuffs. The only people he gets along with are a couple of Slytherins. Pretty much everyone else despises him - and I'm quite sure the feeling is mutual._

For the first time, Luna noticed how small Malfoy was. Had he stood next to her, they'd both had been about the same height. It must have been his two companions that had made him look so tall before, then.

A boy with light brown hair and thick black eyebrows stared down at Malfoy. He was breathing hard; it seemed he was Owen who had threatened the Slytherin Prefect just a minute ago. Suddenly a grin spread on his face, and it didn't look too nice.

"So, _ferret face_," he said nastily. "Have you bounced today already?" He took his wand out of his pocket.

"You don't really think you can impress me with that." Malfoy's voice was cold and sounded superior, despite the situation he was currently in.

"No," the other said thoughtfully. "But then, I reckon you're used to bouncing around already." The others laughed, and he added, "I fear I'll have to think of something else, then."

At that moment, Tessa Dugan stepped forward. Luna's heart made a little somersault as she remembered Tessa's betrayal at the very beginning of this school year.

"You know, Malfoy," she said sweetly. "That was very bad behaviour. And we'd like to punish you. That'll teach you not to insult any of us again. Any suggestions?" she asked, half turning to her friends.

They, however, didn't look as comfortable as Tessa and Owen did. Several of them were looking around again and again, obviously fearing some teacher passing by and catching them. Some were stepping from foot to foot, but didn't seem to dare walk away. It was probably their loyalty to their fellow Hufflepuffs keeping them there, and they probably also wanted to see Malfoy punished. But apparently they didn't like the way Tessa and Owen handled things - Hufflepuffs were supposed to be fair. On the other hand, they were supposed to be loyal. Luna was sure they were in some sort of inner conflict.

Before any of them could say anything, Luna stepped forward into the circle. As she realized what she had done, it was too late. She had acted without thinking, and now she'd have to do something to get out of there again.

"Don't, Tessa. He's one, and you're a dozen. That's not fair!" She paused for a moment, realizing she was defending Draco Malfoy, who had just been about to get the revenge he deserved thoroughly.

"As one of you just said - he's not worth it. If you do this now, you sink to his own level on unfairness. Do you really want to be like a dumb bullying Slytherin who goes after people who are weaker than him just for fun? What happened to Hufflepuff fairness? I understand that you want to avenge your friend, but this is not the right way. And I'm sure you know it; but probably Malfoy angered you so much that you were in a rage. Think clearly and see what you're about to do - you're acting like Slytherins!

"Just ignore him and don't listen to his stupid comments anymore. He just wants to provoke you. Don't give him the satisfaction of actually reacting to them, that's just what he wants. He'll stop when he notices nobody listens to him."

"And who're you to tell us that?" a girl asked suspiciously.

"Aren't you Loony Lovegood?" another asked.

"May I introduce myself, my name is Luna Lovegood," Luna said. "And now I'm going to follow my own advice and not listen to your thoughtless comment."

She shot Tessa, who hadn't said a word, a long look, then she turned around and walked away. She left a group of Hufflepuffs and one Slytherin who were all very thoughtful as to why she had defended Malfoy although she, too, would have every reason to hate him.

When Luna came back to her dormitory - this time the correct one - her head was heavy and she felt tired. The incident with Malfoy and the Hufflepuffs had not been planned and now she wasn't sure whether she had done the right thing. Besides, she had had History of Magic before that, which would have been enough to make her feel exhausted and worn out all by itself. She sighed deeply as she thought back to the lesson.

Just like every year, she had started by working hard and forcing herself to take notes and not daydream.

And just like every year, it all had gone down the drain within two weeks of her return to Hogwarts.

During the first five minutes, she had still listened to Binns eagerly - although she had heard it all before, in her Ravenclaw History of Magic-lesson. But listening to him had become harder by the minute - she had caught herself day-dreaming more and more often.

_Professor Binns seems to put all his efforts into making his lessons as boring as possible_, Luna thought as she picked her way along the dimly-lit corridor leading to the Slytherin dormitories

Luna sighed and opened the door. It took her eyes a while to adjust to the sudden darkness. She wouldn't have thought it possible, but the dormitory was even darker than the corridor. She shook her head. Those Slytherins were a peculiar folk.

Leila was already in the dormitory, kneeling on her bed. She seemed to be doing something to the wall behind her bed. When the door closed itself behind Luna, she turned to look who'd come in.

"Oh, hi," she said in disinterested tones when she spotted Luna. Then she turned back to the wall.

"Hello," Luna said. "What are you doing there?"

"I got the new _Witch Weekly Teen_ today," Leila replied without bothering to turn round and look at Luna again. "And they have a new poster of Myron Wagtail! I had to hang it up immediately. Done!" she added happily.

Proudly she stepped back from the poster, which was taped to the wall with Spellotape. Luna stepped closer and looked at it with interest. A man in his twenties was beaming down at her and waving with a bright smile. He was shaved, and his dark brown hair was styled with what seemed to be a lot of hair-gel. In fact, Luna thought she could detect some make-up on his face, but she wasn't sure. He had put sunglasses in his hair, obviously trying hard to look cool.

He looked kind of nice, Luna thought, something teenagers and their mothers would both like, but he wasn't her taste. She liked the 'wild' men more than mummy's boys - long hair and a rough charisma was what made her knees wobbly.

"Nice," Luna said and looked at Leila. "And - who is he?"

Leila stared at her in disbelief. "This is _Myron Wagtail_," she said.

"Yes, I gathered that," Luna replied. "But who _is_ he? Why do you have a poster of him - well, _several_ posters of him - hanging on your wall?"

"Myron is the lead singer of the _Weird Sisters_." Leila still sounded a little dumbfounded. "Every single girl dreams of him - he's so _cute_. And, just imagine that, even my mother likes him, although she doesn't like the music. But she has a poster of him inside her kitchen cupboard, where Pa won't see it."

She giggled quietly, and for a moment her face was open and friendly. Usually her features showed only plain indifference to everything that happened around her. Now there was actual feeling, and her black eyes were lit up.

"Your Pa doesn't go into the kitchen often, then?" Luna asked her, hoping to get a bit closer to her.

Leila looked at her with huge eyes. "No, why should he? That's Mama's part of the house. He's a man, he shouldn't go there." Her expression darkened. "Except to fetch his alcohol, of course."

"Does your father like red wine, as well? My daddy can't get enough of it," Luna, who hadn't noticed Leila's change of mood, said excitedly. "Though I think it doesn't taste good."

But Leila had noticed she had let something slip she didn't want to, and her face was stony again. "I don't know why that should be any of your business," she said coolly and turned back to her poster.

At that moment, the door opened again and Madeleine and Miranda stepped in, talking animatedly. Madeleine's face went cold when she saw Luna. Luna felt a small pang in her heart - she had thought she had found a new friend in Madeleine - Maddy - but obviously she had been wrong.

Beside her, Leila gave a dreamy little sigh. Then she turned towards her two dorm-mates. "Did you know Luna has no idea who _Myron Wagtail_ is?" she asked, shaking her head.

Madeleine turned away, wordless, and went over to her bed. Miranda, however, stared at Luna. "You don't know Myron Wagtail? But - that's impossible! _Everybody_ knows him! Even my granny knows him! She thinks he's cute..."

"Well, _I_ _don't_ know him," Luna said defiantly. "I'm not like everybody else. So what?" She raised her chin as she thought about what her Daddy had always told her, _Don't try to be like the others_, he'd said. _Try being yourself - that's the most important thing there is. The others don't matter._

"No, one really can't say you are," Leila muttered mockingly.

Luna forced herself to ignore it. _The others don't matter_, she told herself firmly. _The others don't matter._

"I didn't know you were into music at all," she said to Miranda instead. "You seemed to me like the kind of girl who's more into studying, not listening to pop music."

"Well, yes," Miranda admitted. "That's true - theoretically. But Myron - he's simply _so_ cute. I can't resist him. I don't really like the music, to be honest, but - well. I like him." She blushed a little and Luna wondered what it was about this Wagtail that made everyone so open when they talked about him.

First Leila, telling her something about her; now Miranda - blushing! Luna hadn't thought it possible for Miranda to blush. She always seemed so controlled.

"Do you still have to do your Defence-essay?" Luna asked Miranda quickly, deciding to use the opportunity to try to get closer to her and learn more about her.

"Yes," Miranda said and her eyes flickered over to Madeleine. "But I promised Madeleine to do it with her, and - um, well, she doesn't want to do it together with you."

"Oh," Luna said, disappointed. "I guess I'll have to do it alone, then. Although I'm sure it would have been nice if we did it together."

After a moment's hesitation, Miranda nodded in agreement. "It would at least have been interesting," she said.

"I'm sure it would have been," Luna said quietly. "Then what about History of Magic?" she asked again, full of hope.

"Well..." Miranda said, indecisive.

"I'm already nearly through with it!" Luna said, eagerly. "We could help each other. You know, I'm sure you know way more about giant wars than I do. I saw you taking notes."

Miranda sighed deeply, then nodded slightly. "All right, why not," she said. "Let's try it."

"That's great," Luna said. "Thank you. We'll do it together, then."

"Now?" Miranda thought for a moment. "Why not. Madeleine's busy reading her new _Witch Weekly_, anyway. Let's go, then." She grabbed her knapsack. "You coming?" she asked, looking at Luna, who still hadn't taken her own bag.

"In a minute," Luna replied. "I still have something to do."

Miranda just shrugged and went out. The door closed itself and Luna took a deep breath. It was now or never.

Luna didn't like conflicts - she had had enough of them in her life to make her sick of them. Still, she wouldn't shun this one.

She was well aware that this talk might be the end of her - until now surprisingly pleasant - stay in Slytherin.

It was well possible that the other girls would favour Madeleine, and Slytherin would begin to be like Ravenclaw had been. They'd start hiding her things and making mean comments - behind her back or directly to her face.

And Luna would try to ignore them and push the negative feelings out of her mind once more.

But it wasn't fair of Madeleine to first use her to get information about their classes in advance and then not even thank her. Luna would have been content with a simple "Thank you", because it would have shown her that Maddy appreciated her help. But there had been no reaction at all.

Luna couldn't stand people who just used others and then dumped them when they didn't need them anymore. This behaviour was against everything her parents had told her. They had both always told her that honesty and friendship were the most important values there were. She would not betray one of the few things she still had left of her beloved Mum.

For a moment, she closed her eyes, gathering courage.

"Maddy!" she called.


	6. Luna 6

Luna was glad that she had gathered the courage to start this discussion. However, Madeleine didn't react to her call.

"Madeleine!" Luna called again. Madeleine still didn't react.

"Made-" Luna started again, but Leila interrupted her. "Now, really. That's annoying, Luna. Scrivenshaft!" she hissed sharply, and Madeleine turned around.

"What?" she asked, sounding irritated.

Leila simply pointed at Luna with her thumb. "She wants to talk to you," she explained. "Oh, and – go out, okay? It's rather disturbing when you're talking in here while I want to read my magazine."

"Whatever," Madeleine replied indifferently. Then she looked at Luna, coolly. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Luna said and motioned towards the door. "Let's get out of here," she added.

Madeleine sighed, but still followed her out into the icy corridor.

"So?" Madeleine asked, crossing her arms. In that moment, she reminded Luna a lot of Draco Malfoy. Luna wondered whether all Slytherins learned to look at others like that at some point.

"I wanted to talk to you," Luna began.

"You're repeating yourself," Madeleine interrupted coldly. The dim light of the candles along the wall reflected on her hair.

"About yesterday evening and History of Magic," Luna continued, decidedly ignoring the other girl's comment.

"What about it?"

"I explained it all to you, yesterday evening. About Gifford Ollerton and Bran the Bloodthirsty and the giant wars – everything. I repeated it again and again, until you'd understood it.

"You didn't thank me for it yesterday, but I reckoned that was because you were too tired, and eager to get some sleep. But today, you didn't show any sign of gratitude, either.

"We sat in History of Magic and Binns was talking about exactly the things I explained to you – and you didn't act like you remembered yesterday evening at all. You could have smiled at me, or winked. Anything. Just so I know you remember – and appreciate. But there wasn't even the tiniest of gestures from you. Nothing."

She looked at Madeleine, whose face showed nothing but plain indifference. "Yes," she simply said and raised her left eyebrow, so as if to say, so what?

Luna felt her temper rising, but forced herself to cool down again. "I'm disappointed, you know," she said quietly. "You just used me to get what you wanted. I had my own homework to do – two rolls of parchment. But I didn't do it, because I thought you needed help – and I wanted to give it to you.

"But today, you just… ignored me. That hurt me quite a lot, you know. I did all the work, and you – you just dropped me. You didn't need me anymore, so you weren't interested."

Horrified, Luna noticed prickling behind her eyes. "I felt like such a tool! It… it hurt me."

The other girl didn't react at all.

Finally, Luna dared to look up again and saw that the icy look had vanished from Madeleine's face, only to be replaced by anger, which immediately made Luna feel guilty, although she had no idea of why she should feel that way.

"So," Madeleine said, dangerously quiet. "You feel used, do you? Like a tool, not appreciated, right?"

"Yes," Luna said. "That's what I just told you."

"I didn't think you were like that."

"How? Sad?"

"No!" Madeleine hissed. "Selfish!"

Luna suddenly felt the irrational urge to laugh, although this was not at all laughable. "Beg your pardon?" she said instead, trying to hold all emotions out of her voice.

"You very well understood what I said," Madeleine said and slowly started walking around Luna, circling her like a snake does with its victim. "You feel hurt. You explained History of Magic to me, oh saintly Luna. You had homework to do. Don't you notice how everything revolves around you? Others don't mean anything to you. It's always you, you, you – you're the centre of your universe."

"No!" Luna protested, nonplussed. "That's not-"

"_Be_ quiet when I'm talking!" Madeleine said sharply and Luna shrank back, a bit afraid. This was not the Madeleine she had gotten to know. What's up with her? Luna wondered silently.

"You're so … different," Luna whispered.

Madeleine simply ignored her. "You didn't think about me for a single moment, did you?" she said loudly. "You didn't think about how I was feeling, right?" Her voice was getting louder and louder.

"Maybe I wanted to help you feel at home in Slytherin," Madeleine snarled. "Just imagine – I didn't really want to know about History of Magic and simply asked you to make you feel good. I didn't do this because I needed your help. I wanted to impress Rebecca. You have no idea of how it feels to be treated like that all the time. None of you! She always thinks that I'm so childish and she thinks I can't do anything right. I wanted to prove her wrong.

"This had nothing – absolutely nothing – to do with you. Oh, and there's something else." Her eyes glittered maliciously, making her look dangerous in the dark corridor. "I don't care about you at all. You could be some insect, and I couldn't care less. You're nothing, Luna. Nothing." The last word she almost spit out.

Luna felt like Madeleine had just hit her stomach with a huge iron bullet. For a moment, she couldn't breathe. That hurt. She knew a lot of people didn't like her; but nobody had ever said it to her face like that. Luna was used to passive aversion. This open hostility was much, much worse.

"Okay," she finally whispered weakly. "I think you made yourself pretty clear."

But Madeleine wasn't finished yet. "I looked after you and talked to you and was friendly, from the first moment on! I even invented a silly nickname for myself! I was _so_ close. Rebecca would have been so proud of me! Finally somebody would have appreciated me and looked at me with respect!" she roared at Luna.

"And you? You destroyed it all! What the hell do you think you were doing – sitting down next to that damn Weasley slut!"

"What?" Luna asked, surprised. "Are you talking about Ginny?"

"Yes, of course I'm talking about Ginny 'I-make-Rebecca-look-stupid-in-class' Weasley," Madeleine snarled.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that she completely embarrassed Rebecca today in Defence against the Dark Arts!"

"But Rebecca was wrong," Luna said. "Listen, Madeleine, I was with Ginny, in the Ministry of Magic. I was there; I fought the Death Eaters! You have no idea how-"

"_You_ have no idea," Madeleine interrupted. "And _please_, stop talking about this 'fight' you had. You don't actually think anyone believes that?

You were my chance to get a bit of respect from Rebecca, and you ruined it all. But I warn you," she said quietly and stepped close to Luna – so close that Luna could smell her chocolaty breath. "You'll deeply regret it if you continue that. Stop associating with the Weasley slut. If you sit with me from now on, I can forget about this argument. But if you don't…"

She trailed off, but she didn't have to finish her sentence. Luna knew what she wanted to tell her. This was the second time in a matter of only a few days that she was in a deep inner conflict. Slytherin didn't want her to be happy, it seemed.

"By the way, I saw Elinor today," Madeleine said in a light voice, as if she had read Luna's thoughts. "She told me to send you greetings." She smiled nastily. "She and I are very good friends, did you know?"

Luna bit her lip. What was she going to do? Now her two huge problems were connected, and either she gave in and betrayed her principles, or she was in really big trouble.

"Elli will have to report to McGonagall about your behaviour regularly. D'you think McGonagall will be glad to hear how you're being rude and anti-social? Insulting us, after we went to _so_ much trouble to make you feel at home. Calling us names – so childish! Threatening to hex us if we don't shut up!"

Luna's mouth fell open. "But – that's not true!" she protested. "I never did any of that!"

"Really? Prove it, then. Who do you think McGonagall will believe – you or a seventh year Prefect, who has shown nothing but responsible and sensible behaviour in the past?"

Lifting one eyebrow, Madeleine looked expectantly at Luna, who stared back at her blankly for a while, unable to think clear. A stampede of thoughts surged through her mind, trampling down the ability to form coherent words. All that had happened swirled around in her head wildly. Elinor, the _Quibbler_, Madeleine, Rebecca, Ginny, …

She decided that a rash answer wouldn't help anyone, so she nodded slowly to show Madeleine she'd heard her, then turned around and trotted away, towards the Common Room, where Miranda was waiting for her.

"Hey!" Madeleine shouted. "Oy, Luna! Give me an answer!"

Luna heard her, but the words didn't get through her stream of thought.

"You coward!" Madeleine shrieked. "I'll hex you deaf and blind if you don't turn right now and talk to me, damn it! Come right here!"

Luna simply ignored her. Suddenly she remembered she'd forgotten her bag again, and she'd need it if she wanted to do the History of Magic-essay with Miranda.

She turned around once more and walked back towards the dormitory. Suddenly, a thought hit her. _Miranda_. While she and Madeleine weren't necessarily friends, surely she'd stand by Madeleine and not Luna if she had to decide. _And the others?_ She thought, horrified. _Rebecca and Leila – what if they're all in on it? What if this isn't simply something Madeleine's doing, what if they have it all planned out and this is only the first step?_ Oh Merlin, she hadn't imagined her idea to further unity would have effects like this.

Lost in thought, Luna had arrived next to Madeleine once more. "Fine," the other girl said, crossing her arms. "I knew you'd come back. So? What do you have to say?"

Luna blinked and looked at her, struggling to focus. "I?" she managed eventually. "Why should I say something? Excuse me, would you step aside? You're blocking the door."

Inside the dormitory, Luna stopped. Should she really go to Miranda? What if she was waiting in the Common Room with another part of the girls' plan? Maybe they had sat her a trap, and she was walking right into it. What was she supposed to do? _Mum, if you're here, please help me!_ she pleaded inwardly. _I don't know what to do._

She closed her eyes for a moment, and as she opened them again, she heard Miranda call, "Luna, are you coming? I'm not going to wait forever!"

"Is that a sign?" Luna whispered, looking upwards. But her Mum probably knew what she was doing, and Luna wasn't going to mistrust her. Reluctantly, she fetched her bag from next to her bed. Another deep breath later, she stepped outside into the corridor once more, shutting up Madeleine, who still looked slightly confused, with a "Didn't you hear? Miranda's waiting for me."

As she walked down the corridor, she felt Madeleine's gaze on her back, and although the other girl hadn't said a word, Luna knew what she was thinking. _This isn't over yet. This is just the beginning._

"There you are," Miranda said, looking up. "About time." Then she looked at Luna a little closer. "Are you feeling all right? You don't look good."

"What?" Luna wasn't sure whether this was part of their plan. Maybe everything depended on her answer, maybe this was what made or broke it. "Oh, no, it's quite all right. I think I'll manage," she eventually said and hoped that would do.

"Fine," Miranda replied and asked no further.

Luna breathed out in relief. Maybe she had been too suspicious and Miranda wasn't in on it, after all. Otherwise she surely wouldn't just say 'fine'. Or would she? Maybe it was another part of the plan, to make her feel safe and secure, and then strike. Luna wasn't going to let her defences down soon, that was for sure.

But it was no good watching Miranda's every movement, either. That way, she'd never get any rest. Luna decided she'd concentrate on her essay now, which wouldn't just make her focus on something different, it was also important because of her OWLs.

"Did you start already?" she asked, trying for a normal tone of voice.

"No, I waited for you and the others so we could do it together."

"The others?" Luna asked, and her brain sounded alarm. "What others?"

"Alan, Frank and Nuncio," Miranda replied.

Luna looked at her blankly. "Who?" she asked, hoping they weren't some broad-shouldered, huge seventh years who were supposed to beat her up.

"Alan, Fra – oh, don't say you didn't meet them already! They're the boys in our year. You surely met them before in classes. But they're not the only ones. Lerato and Corbin are also in our year," Miranda explained. "I can't believe they didn't investigate you already. They're very childish you know, and curious – at least Nuncio. He has to be the nosiest person I've ever met. Just wait until they're here, he'll bombard you with questions."

"Aha," said Luna. "So, what are they like?"

"They're nice guys," Miranda said. "Though they're not all that much into schoolwork –" she tutted disapprovingly – "and outside, playing Quidditch, as often as possible."

"Really?" said Luna. "That's nice."

"Yeah," agreed Miranda. Then she seemed to remember something. "You're not muggle-born, are you?" she asked, eyes wide open.

"No," Luna said. "I'm a pureblood. I believe I'm even related to Malfoy, some generations back. Why?"

"Because Alan and Lerato are very keen on pure blood."

"But that's nonsense," Luna said. "The blood doesn't matter at all. It's the personality that counts. There's no difference between purebloods, halfbloods and muggle-borns – except for their ancestors. It's proven, even, that magical power is not dependent on the purity of blood. Professor Larry Larynks made a survey about that some years ago. We had an article about it in _The_ –"

"Yeah, whatever." Miranda waved her hand dismissively. "You don't have to tell me, I can't be bothered with all this blood stuff. I mean, sure, I don't want too many Muggles in our world, but as long as they don't make trouble, they can stay."

Suddenly something occurred to Luna. "What about Rebecca? She's a half-blood, isn't she?" she asked, for the moment forgetting her worries.

Miranda grinned thinly. "She's a special case. I can only say _Corbin Merden_ – he's the cause for her 'special treatment'. Without him, she'd have a very, _very_ hard time here in Slytherin. He's totally crazy in love with her. As far as I remember, he's had a crush on her ever since, I don't know, second year? So, he's warned the others not to bother or touch her. He's big and strong – and Prefect. The others don't want trouble.

"And his auntie always sends along huge packages of sweets and a bottle of Firewhisky. We all wait for it eagerly every month."

"Firewhisky?" asked Luna, incredulous. "But – that's alcohol! Strong alcohol, at that."

"Sure," Miranda said. "So what? Don't say you don't drink alcohol sometimes. Stop being such a killjoy."

"Well, I don't know…"

"Come on. Don't be that stiff about it. After all, Leila has been drinking a sip of Gin every evening for years, and it hasn't harmed her."

"Leila has – oh my. And you all drink Firewhisky on a regular basis? And _additionally to that_, Leila drinks Gin."

"Correct."

"Have you all gone mad?" Luna stared at her dorm-mate in disbelief. For a moment, she considered whether this could be part of their plan to distract her. But the topic was too serious to not warn Miranda about it. "This is _alcohol_. It destroys your brain-cells with every sip you take. I didn't think you were that careless about your brain."

"Well, a few sips every month won't do much harm," replied Miranda defensively.

"Miranda, listen to me. This is important. Every tiny little sip of alcohol destroys your brain cells. The cells that are supposed to make you write good OWLs."

"Really? Oh." Miranda plucked at her necklace. She twisted her ring. She pulled her earlobe. "I'll think about it," she eventually said.

Before Luna could answer, a bomb exploded behind them. At least that was what it sounded like.

"I reckon that's them." Miranda grinned dryly.

"Who?" Luna asked.

"Alan, Frank and Nuncio."

"Oh, them." A queasy feeling started to spread itself in Luna's stomach. Now she'd see what they were going to do with her.

"Did you see that look Scrope threw me?" a loud voice asked behind them.

"Yeah, but that was because your fly was open," another shouted and started laughing.

"Stuff it, mate," the first voice said again, sounding slightly amused.

"Hi, Miranda!" Three boys plonked down on the chairs next to Miranda. Luna quietly scrutinized them. One had longer black hair that fell into his face and covered one eye. The one next to him had a shaved headand piercing blue eyes. The third one had a grin that made his eyes nearly vanish. They looked like small black lines somewhere behind his cheeks.

"Whoa," the one with the bald head said suddenly. "Miranda, who's this charming lady you have sitting next to you?"

He fell to one knee before Luna and took her hand. She saw the greenish light reflect on his shiny head and felt the sudden urge to touch it, only barely restraining herself. "Milady, I am atyour service. One look into your wonderful – er – silvery eyes makes me feel like I'm in paradise." He bowed his head.

Luna blushed heavily. "Yes, my Daddy always tells me I have wonderful eyes, too," she said, not knowing what else to do.

The boy started laughing loudly. "Did you hear that?" he asked, turning towards the two other boys. "Did you hear that? You're funny," he said, turning back to Luna.

"Who are you?" the one with the huge grin asked, leaning slightly forward.

"Luna Lovegood."

The mouth of the boy still kneeling in front of her fell slightly open. "Oh." After a quick exchange of glances with his friends, he leaned forward. "Not… _Loony_ Lovegood?" he asked quietly, barely more than a whisper.

"No, it's Luna." This was really starting to get on Luna's nerves. "Loony is a name some stupid girls gave to me. Maybe it may seem appropriate at times, but I don't think it's very polite of you to address me like that when you don't even know me. Are you not capable of judging for yourself?" She raised her brows slowly and forced herself to smile at him. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Nuncio Greene," he said.

"Alan Skipwith," the one with the black hair introduced himself.

"And I'm Frank Cosworth." That was the last one.

"Cosworth and Skipwith," Luna said dreamily. "It sounds like a comedy double-act."

The boys laughed out loud.

"Now, are you ready with your ceremony?" Miranda asked, her voice a mixture of anger and amusement. "Or do you want to know Luna's birthday, complete background, favourite Quidditch team and the colour of her knickers?"

Nuncio looked at Miranda for a moment with a contemplative expression. Then he turned to Luna. "What's the colour of your knickers?"

"Blue." Luna was perplexed. The boys shouted with laughter. "You're definitely worth your money," said Alan. "In fact, I think you're priceless."

"Well," Luna said, following an idea that had popped up in her head. "If you finished your questions now, then I have one, as well." Grinning into their expectant faces, she asked, "Nuncio, may I touch your head?"

The two other boys started chuckling, and Nuncio complained quietly, "I don't know why everybody wants to do that. Does it bring you better marks, or what?" Still, he let Luna touch his bald head, holding still patiently.

"If it brings better marks, maybe you should try it yourself, as well," Frank mocked and he and Alan started laughing at the top of their voices.

"Please," Miranda said, sounding exasperated. "You three have no working brain cells, it seems. You need me to do your History of Magic-essay, so you'd better do what I say. And I say you three sit down right now and start reading the passages we need. Leave Luna alone, you confuse her. And you annoy me."

"Okay, you're the boss." Without complaint, the three sat down and took their books from their bags. Luna sat there, her mouth open.

Miranda, who had noticed it, asked with a grin, "Am I good, or what?"

Luna hadn't expected Miranda to have such a bright grin – it lit up her whole face and made her look less like the studious serious girl she usually was. The boys seemed to make her relax and be more open to jokes. In this moment, she was so much unlike her usual self that Luna simply nodded, slightly confused. Then she took out her book and tried to focus on her homework.

Finally, they were ready with their essays and the others went away. Only Luna stayed; she had her Defence-essay to do, as well. Nuncio told her once more how magnificent her eyes were and winked, then he ran after Alan and Frank.

Luna looked round to see if somebody she knew was in the Common Room so she could sit with them. While working on her essay, she hadn't noticed many things going on around her. And it seemed she hadn't missed much, as the room was still empty except for her and, at the other end of the room, Zacharias with some other boy.

Luna grabbed her things and walked towards them. "Hi," she said.

Zacharias looked up. "Hi."

"May I sit with you?" Luna asked and already put her bag on the table and pulled up another chair.

"Err – sure," Zacharias said, looking not really delighted about it.

Luna shot the other boy a pointed look and then looked at Zacharias.

"Oh," he said. "Fulke, that's Luna Lovegood. Exchange, as well. Ravenclaw, I believe. Luna, that's Fulke Litcott. He's in my dorm and a real clown." He grinned as Fulke nudged him.

"Luna Lovegood?" Fulke asked. "Not… Loony Lovegood!"

Luna sighed, exasperated. "No, it's Luna. Loony is a not very nice nickname the girls from my old dormitory gave me. I don't know how it could spread throughout the school, especially as most people don't even know me. But they probably get their opinion like the flu – by catching it from others."

Fulke blushed. "Okay, sorry," he said. "That was quite clear." He hesitated a moment, then said, "Do you by any chance know how to do the dream diary for Trelawney?"

"I didn't take Divination, but I know that Jonas – that's a boy in my year – always made his dreams up. Trelawney never noticed anything."

"See?" Zacharias exclaimed. "That's what I suggested, as well," he explained to Luna. She smiled and was glad inside to see that he was in a good mood – in the Entrance Hall, when she had first met him, something seemed to have bothered him.

At that moment, Madeleine came into the room. "Oh, look who's there," she said as she spotted Luna. "Loony Lovegood! The spleeny, fly-bitten malt-worm!" She grinned nastily.

"Be careful not to get dirt on your hands from that scum. She's completely psycho. When she fell out of the weirdo tree, boy did she hit every branch on the way down," Madeleine exclaimed, then smiled innocently, like that was the most ordinary thing one could say about another person.

Luna felt a pang at her heart at these words. She still couldn't believe that this was Madeleine, the girl who had so eagerly wanted her to call her 'Maddy'.

"And you're so ugly you have to creep along the wall," Zacharias suddenly said loudly. "Otherwise the mirror would fall off when it sees you."

Madeleine opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She looked at a complete loss for words. After a moment, she turned wordlessly and strutted out of the Common Room.

For a moment, the three of them sat in silence, then Zacharias said, "That was good, wasn't it?"

Fulke grinned. "Sure it was, mate. But quite mean. Dunno why Madeleine's acting so strange. Well, it's not like she's nice, normally, but I've never seen her as bitchy as that. Usually, she's always in Rebecca's shadow and barely ever says anything. What's gotten into her?" He looked at Luna inquiringly.

"Oh, that's a long story," Luna said quickly. "And no, we don't have time for me tell it right now. I have to get started on my Defence-essay. And didn't you want to write your dream-diary?"

"Fine, fine, I was just asking…" Fulke murmured.

"Just shut up, will you?" Zacharias asked and they all started writing.

Eventually, another one and a half hours later, Luna was finished with her last bit of homework for that day. Thankfully she inhaled deeply and let the air out again slowly. "Wonderful feeling," she said quietly.

Smith growled. "How great for you. I'm not ready yet. I just can't think of any stupid things that could happen to me anymore. Fulke?"

"Nope," the other said and quickly covered his roll of parchment with his arm. "Think of your own."

"That's the damn Slytherin in you." Zacharias looked at him darkly. "Always wants to be the best. How I hate it. That's probably the one thing I like least about Slytherin." He tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. "Think, Smith," he quietly said to himself.

"I'm leaving," Luna said, getting up. "I need some rest after this much writing and concentrating. I hope you finish soon." After a moment's hesitation, she added, "Good night."

"For you, maybe," Zacharias snapped back. "You don't have to work on this stupid diary."

"Well, I didn't take Divination," Luna tried to explain.

"Oh, be quiet." Zacharias shot her a dark look. "Should've known it. _Ravenclaw_. Bloody know-it-alls, all of them." With that, he turned back to his essay, exasperatedly raking his hand through his hair.

"Good night," Luna said once more. She ignored Zacharias because she knew he was only annoyed because of his homework.

Without waiting for another reply, she went into the by now almost-familiar pitch-dark corridor that led to her dormitory. Then she stood in front of the door to her dorm. While working on her essays, she hadn't had the time to think about the plan the girls might have. But now that she was back, fear welled up inside her. She didn't know whether she'd be able to defend herself against four girls' attacks all at once – if they actually did something.

Luna didn't know what to do. Maybe she was just making a fool of herself and was being paranoid, and the others weren't as easy to influence as she thought. On the other hand, it was entirely plausible that Maddy had told them some lie about their argument and now they were just waiting for her to enter the room, and then make her life hell. She remembered her worries about Slytherins from the Sorting ceremony. What if Slytherins liked physical violence?

She'd never worried like that before entering her dormitory in Ravenclaw, because she'd known the girls there wouldn't lower themselves to something as 'plebeian' as physical attacks. But here, in Slytherin? Just in case, she took her wand from behind her ear and held it tightly. At least they wouldn't surprise her with their spells. She could use _Expelliarmus_, then everything would be over quick and without injuries. Or _Petrificus totalus,_ that could work, as well. Prepared with thoughts like that, she opened the door slowly.

Silence greeted her as she entered. Rebecca and Leila were both lying on their respective beds. Leila's wand turned the colour of her nail varnish into a dark lilac automatically and Leila watched drowsily.

Luna wondered fleetingly whether she'd been doing her nails ever since Luna had left the room. When did she do her homework? All Luna had seen her do until now was doing her nails and making sheep's eyes at Myron Wagtail.

Rebecca, on the other hand, just lay there, looking exhausted. Miranda was reading a book.

All three looked up as she came in, but no one said anything. Luna didn't say anything, either, because she was very nervous and feared that one word from her could cause all of three of them to jump up and curse her. Then again, Luna doubted Leila would do anything before her nail varnish had dried. She wouldn't want to ruin her day's work. Still, the danger was definitely there.

Luna wasn't sure of how to interpret the silence. In Ravenclaw, there had been silence as well, but she had always known what it meant – it had been hostile and icy. The girls had made her feel that she was not wanted there, that they despised her, that she was unworthy; all without saying a word.

In Slytherin, she wasn't sure what the silence told her. It felt indifferent, but was that true? Was Madeleine the only one who was against her, or had she made Rebecca, Miranda and Leila support her, as well? Luna was sure Madeleine had told them all what had happened – or, more probable, her version of what had happened. Under these circumstances, it seemed like a miracle that the atmosphere in the room wasn't full of hatred. Maybe they needed the time to consider the situation. That would give her a reprieve until at least the next morning, which would be very good.

Luna was glad Madeleine wasn't in the room. She wondered where she was. Maybe she had gone to Elinor to tell her what had happened. Luna gulped. Not good. But for now, she'd stop worrying and just sleep. She felt incredibly tired.

Grateful, she sank down on her bed and felt the familiar softness under her. Merlin's leg brushed her cheek, and she pulled him in her arms. All she wanted to do right now was close her eyes and fall asleep.

Therefore, she lay down and waited. The Sandman had to be near; she could feel herself becoming more and more tired.

Suddenly a thought hit her. She sat up upright. Judging by the work her brain cells did, she could drink a bottle of whiskey every evening, and it wouldn't make a difference. Just _why_ was she so scatterbrained? She had forgotten something again. This time, it was her favourite Sugarquill, which had fallen under the table at some point. She had completely forgotten about it.

With a heavy sigh, she got up again, groaning. Tiredly, she put her wand behind her right ear and shuffled towards the door, slowly.

When she reached the Common Room, she stopped, as she always did; fascinated by the mysterious green light in there. Even when she was as tired as she was right now, this could make her feel good in a way. In the light of the fire, she could see the huge coat of arms of Slytherin hanging on one of the walls.

A sudden noise made her turn her head to the left. A group of Slytherins came running along, cheering and shouting. While Luna still wondered what the reason for their strange behaviour was, a loud thud could be heard.

"Oooh, he fell on his long bottom," a girl's voice shrieked and the others cheered.

They passed by the corridor in which Luna was still standing, and unexpectedly Luna saw Neville kneeling on the ground, pulled further by the Slytherins.

"Admit you're an unworthy squib, and we'll leave you alone," a boy said darkly and pulled Neville's head back brutally with his hand in Neville's hair, so Neville, who was still on the floor, was forced to look up at him.

Now Luna could see his face – his lower lip trembled, and his eyes were wide with fear, but still he said with a surprisingly strong voice, "I'm not a squib. I'm a wizard. And I'm worth twelve of you, Goyle."

The others started laughing and one of them kicked him viciously in theribs. Neville coughed and fell to the floor.

"Expelliarmus," Luna shouted without thinking, whipping her wand out from behind her ear. Goyle's wand flew in her direction and seven perplexed faces turned towards her, the most surprised of them Neville's.

"Stop!" Luna exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"First of all, that's not your business," a blonde girl hissed. "And now give him back his wand!"

"I don't think I'll do that," Luna said contemplatively, trying to play for time.

"Well, you'd betteror you'll regret it." The blonde girl's voice sounded very threatening. Luna dimly remembered having seen her with Malfoy a lot.

Before she could reply, somebody shouted "Densaugeo!" and Luna could barely duck the spell. That was like some start signal for the other Slytherins, and they started hurling curses at her. Luna used the _Protego_-charm to protect herself and somehow get to Neville. Finally, she reached him and pulled him up. "Are you all right?" she asked, and as he nodded, she thrust the Slytherin's wand she was still holding into his hand. "Then let's go."

A small battle ensued and between firing and blocking spells, Luna found the time to wonder why nobody had woken up yet. They'd better end this fight before anyone noticed. "Try to distract them," she quietly said to Neville as she was close to him again. "I'll try getting their wands."

Neville nodded. "Furnunculus!" he shouted and pointed his wand at Malfoy's girlfriend. Boils started to break out over her face and arms and she shrieked. While she was so distracted, Luna cast _Expelliarmus_ to disarm her.

"Locomotor Mortis!" Neville already shouted to her left, and Goyle's friend fell to the floor as suddenly his legs were locked together. He hopped around helplessly, and Luna got his wand.

They continued like that, and Luna was very grateful for their many DA-practices from last year. Without these, they'd have lost long ago against the Slytherins, who outnumbered them by four people.

Eventually, Luna held five wands in her left hand, and the Slytherins had lost. The blonde girl sat on the floor, looking at her arms with a horrified expression. Others were lying on the floor, petrified, or were bound by magical ropes.

"Well," Luna said to the blonde girl. "Seems like _you_ are the one regretting. I'd advise you not to do this again. You saw what happened this time. It's not going to get better next time."

With that, she threw their wands to the floor, and Neville dropped the one he'd been holding. "Don't you dare do this again," Luna said and then she turned away, pulling Neville with her by his sleeve.

"Are you hurt?" she asked him softly and put a hand on his arm.

"No, I don't think so," he replied. Carefully, he touched his left side and groaned quietly. "That'll go away."

There was a short pause, then he quietly said, "Thanks. For… you know, all this." He made a gesture that included the whole room with the Slytherins.

"You don't have to thank me," Luna said. "After all, that's what friends are for, isn't it?" She smiled slightly.

He turned his head towards her abruptly, and his eyes lit up with something Luna had never seen before in somebody's eyes when they looked at her.

It was gratitude.

She felt goose-pimples on her arms and she smiled weakly. It was an amazing feeling, to see somebody grateful to her. While she still enjoyed the warm, fuzzy feeling inside her, Neville suddenly pulled her into a hug, held her tight for a second and then quickly went away, all without saying a word.

He left Luna standing there, clueless, surprised, and unsure of how she should feel.


End file.
